Pride vs Prejudice
by Merenwen Calmcacil
Summary: Lizzie Bennet was fulfilling her life's dream. She was a mildly successful country singer and her band, Forget Pride, had a hit single. So why did Will Darcy have to come into her life with his band, Dissolving Prejudice, and turned everything upside down
1. Longbourn

Disclaimer: No, I do not own Pride and Prejudice. Yes, this is yet another modernized version. Yes, they're all musicians. I know, it sounds like this has been done before but I don't think it has ever been done quite like this. Just trust me. I think that it has turned out pretty well.

"Five minutes Lizzie," Jane Bennet called as she poked her head into her sister's dressing room. "And please don't be late this time!"

"Don't worry so much Jane," Lizzie replied and turned from the mirror to look at her sister and give her a wink. "Am I ever late?" Jane's ladylike manners were all that kept her from snorting at her sister's remark and then she turned on her high heeled shoe to go check on the other band members. Jane was the manager for the band _Forget Pride_ and had a difficult time keeping the five girls in line. Lizzie Bennet, her fraternal twin sister, was the lead singer. Lizzie's best friend Charlotte played the drums. Mary, Kitty, and Lydia were Jane and Lizzie's younger sisters. Mary played the keyboard, even if she found it demeaning that she couldn't have a real piano. Kitty played the base and Lydia sang back up and tried to play the tambourine, although she was usually off beat.

Lizzie walked out of her dressing room and towards the stage. She stopped at the sound booth for her headset and her hairdresser was right behind her to pin it in place and make sure it didn't mess up Lizzie's carefully constructed hairdo. "Elizabeth Elaine Bennet, you are not going on stage in those grubby sneakers!" her costume designer called as she came running up behind her holding a pair of calf high boots with stiletto heels. "You sit down right now and put these boots on. They were made especially for you and you will wear them!"

Lizzie groaned and sat down on the case for a speaker to take of her favorite pair of sneakers, which admittedly were three years old and had several holes in them. As Lizzie finished zipping up her boots Lydia and Kitty came giggling out of their dressing room, both of them covered in so much glitter they would look like iridescent blurs underneath the stage lights. "Oh Lizzie, isn't this so exciting!" Lydia squealed as Lizzie rose to her feet. "It's the last concert of our tour! Oh, I think now I might cry!"

"You'll ruin your makeup if you do," Mary pointed out sarcastically as she walked up to join her sisters. Lydia's eyes widened in shock and demanded that the nearest techie go and get her a mirror to make sure that her makeup was still perfect. Lizzie just sighed and shook her head. "Okay," Jane said as she and Charlotte walked up to the group. "You girls go out there and play your best. Just remember, we're at Longbourn and your hometown crowd is always full of your hardest critiques. So, it doesn't really matter what they say. There'll always be people who hate you just because they think it should be them up on the stage instead of you."

"Great way to pump us up Janie!" Lizzie teased. "I've always wanted to be told right before a concert that the audience is probably not going to me."

Jane looked at her sister mortified with her cheeks stained a dark red. "That's not what I meant at all Lizzie!" Jane exclaimed. "I hope that's not what you think I was trying to say!" Lizzie simply kissed her sister on the cheek and then grabbed her guitar from its stand right off stage. She lifted the strap over her head and then she and the rest of the band followed her out on stage.

Jane watched her sisters and Charlotte greet the crowd. This crowd seemed much more receptive to the band than she had expected. She'd been warned by all of her manager friends that the hometown crowd would be the worst. However so far, they had managed to sell out Longbourn Stadium and the lines she'd seen at the product tables had been astoundingly long. Maybe their hometown would be different. But Jane was not about to get her hopes up. There was still plenty of time for things to end badly.

Suddenly Jane felt someone tap her on the shoulder. "Excuse me…" a rather handsome young man with auburn hair began as Jane turned around. "You wouldn't happen to be Jane Bennet, would you?"

"Yes I'm Jane," Jane replied with a smile and then raised one perfectly arched eyebrow expectantly.

The young man stared at her for a moment as if in awe. He wasn't quite sure what he had expected, but the beautiful blond haired, blue eyed girl standing in front of him certainly wasn't it. He'd thought she may have been rather ugly, seeing as how she was the only Bennet sister not in the band. But that most certainly was not the case. She was the most beautiful girl that he had ever laid eyes on. He finally realized that he was staring and then shook his head as if he finally had recovered his senses. "Excuse me," he said apologetically. "My name is Charlie Bingley. I'm the manager for the band _Dissolving Prejudice _and we have a business proposition for you and your band."

"Let's go back to my sister Lizzie's dressing room," Jane said and then led the way and closed Lizzie's door firmly behind them to muffle the noise of the concert. "There, that's much better. Please have a seat. Can I get you something to drink?"

"Oh no, you're fine, I mean I'm fine," Charlie stuttered as they sat down on a light blue loveseat and turned very red in the cheeks. "I mean…"

"It's all right," Jane assured him, laying a comforting hand on his arm. Then, astounded by her own forwardness, turned ten different shades of red and snatched her hand back. They both laughed a little nervously and Jane managed to regain her composure. "So you said something about a business proposition?"

"Well, next week _Dissolving Prejudice _is going to be playing a concert just up the road at Netherfield and our opening band just canceled," Charlie explained. "We've searched everywhere close by and there just aren't any bands that the boys are willing to give a chance. So, when we realized that _Forget Pride _was going to be in town, I talked the boys into offering the slot to you girls."

"I don't think the girls are going to go for it," Jane informed him a little wistfully. "This is supposed to be the last stop on our tour and I know my sister Lizzie especially is ready to be done with this all and stay at home for a while. Besides, this is their second tour. They haven't opened a show in quite some time and I fear they might be a little insulted for you asking them that."

"Oh, this won't simply be another opening gig," Charlie assured her. "We'll split time on stage and ticket proceeds fifty-fifty. Besides that, you get to play for free; you don't have to rent the stadium or anything. The show is really close to being sold out too so…"

"I can't make any promises," Jane warned him apologetically. "I have to talk to my sisters and Charlotte first. But if there are no objections, I'll give you a call tomorrow. Where can I reach you?"

"Let me give you my card," Charlie said as he stood up and took his wallet out of his back pocket. He handed Jane a small business card with the _Dissolving Prejudice_ logo embossed as the background. "Just call me on my cell phone any time after noon. I'm rooming with Will Darcy over at the Hilton just down the road from Netherfield and he's a bit of a late sleeper."

"So is Lizzie," Jane informed him with a smile as she took the card and walked over to where her purse rested underneath Lizzie's vanity. She took out her planner and stuck the card in with the rest of the many business cards and then turned around to face Charlie where he stood next to the loveseat. "So, I suppose you better be going," Jane began a little sadly.

"I suppose so," he replied with a little shrug of his shoulders. "You promise that you'll call tomorrow right?"

"Not until after noon," Jane assured him and then followed him out of the dressing room. The noise from the concert hit her full blast as they stepped back out into the wings. "Well, I guess this is goodbye."

They shook hands and then Charlie surprised her by kissing her cheek. Both of them turned a million different shades of red and then Jane went out to the lobby to go and check to see how the product tables were doing. She tried hard to get Charlie off her mind, but ever now and then her hand would absentmindedly stray to her cheek to the spot that he had kissed and she would turn red all over again. Little did she know, thirty miles away at a hotel near Netherfield, Charlie was doing the exact same thing.

Three hours later, Lizzie sank down onto the couch on the tour bus and unzipped her shoes. "My feet are killing me!" she groaned and closed her eyes as she wiggled her toes, glad that they were finally free of the boots. "I am so glad this tour is over. Tomorrow I am hopping the first flight back to Nashville and then I am going to sleep for a week."

"Not so fast Lizzie," Jane began a little hesitantly. "I need to talk to you girls about something first." Kitty and Lydia groaned, but Lizzie just arched an eyebrow without opening her eyes, letting Jane know that she had at least some of Lizzie's attention; the rest was focused on checking her eyelids for holes. "The manager from the band _Dissolving Prejudice _was here. They need a band to share the stage with next weekend. Their opener quit and they wanted to know if we would be willing to play. They'll split the ticket proceeds with us and…"

Lydia and Kitty squealed, effectively cutting Jane off. "Oh my gosh!" Lydia exclaimed excitedly. "We get to play with _Dissolving Prejudice! _This is like a dream come true. You've seen their base guitarist Jack Wickham, haven't you Lizzie? He is totally gorgeous! And let's not forget Fitz or Will Darcy, he is the perfect Mr. Tall dark and handsome! Please say we can Lizzie! Please?"

"Yes please Lizzie," Jane echoed softly. "I know that you want to go home, but I really think that this would be a good opportunity for all of you."

"Fine," Lizzie sighed dejectedly. "You know I can never refuse you anything Jane. Now, I'm going to sleep. Don't wake me up until we get back to the hotel." Lizzie would have gone straight to sleep, if she hadn't been nearly squeezed to death by three pairs of arms. "I might change my mind if you all don't let me sleep!" Lizzie threatened grumpily and then walked back to the bedroom and climbed into the nearest bed.

Half an hour later Lizzie found herself being pushed by Jane into a hotel that did not look like the one they had left early that morning, or should she say the morning before. It was well after midnight, but Lizzie didn't have much of a memory of the hotel, so she could have been wrong. "Janie, I'm going to go get a drink from the bar," Lizzie said sleepily.

"No alcohol," Jane warned her. "You are starting that anti-alcohol campaign as soon as we get back to Nashville and if some lucky photographer gets a picture of you with a drink in your hand, we could both be in big trouble."

"I was hoping for coffee," Lizzie replied. "You know I can't sleep until I have completely unpacked and I feel too lazy to make coffee myself."

"Fine," Jane sighed. "Just don't be too long, and I seriously doubt that the hotel bar has coffee."

"What do you think keeps the bartender awake this late?" Lizzie asked with a yawn and then stumbled towards the bar. The bar was empty except for the bartender and one man sitting there looking down into something, but that wasn't surprising seeing as how it was approaching one in the morning. "Do you have any coffee?" Lizzie asked sleepily as she climbed up onto a barstool. "My head is killing me."

"You know coffee doesn't really help you sober up," the mysterious stranger said as he looked up from his drink, a cup of coffee.

"I think that is advice you should be giving to yourself," Lizzie replied as she suppressed a yawn and inhaled the aroma of the coffee that was sitting in front of her.

"By the way you stumbled in here, I would think that it would be you who needed to sober up," he spit back at her with a slight glare.

"I'll have you know that I haven't had any type of alcohol for almost two years," Lizzie informed him indignantly. "I need coffee because I am tired. I just performed a four hour concert and now my throat is a little sore and for some reason my sister decided that we needed to switch hotels in the middle of the night and I can't sleep until I've unpacked so here I am trying to get a cup of coffee in peace so that I don't pass out in the elevator on the way up to my room!"

"Well, I'm sorry, but when a barefoot woman stumbles into a bar in the early hours of the morning, what else is a person to suspect except that the woman is drunk?" he asked indignantly.

"The person has no right to form any conclusions about the woman at all," Lizzie replied, placing her hands on her hips, her coffee forgotten. "There could be any number of reasons as to why a woman is coming into a bar asking for coffee. And I don't see how the fact that I'm not wearing any shoes is at all relevant."

"I said I was sorry, why can't you just accept my apology and then we can go about our business," he suggested with a sneer.

"You know what I think of your apology?" Lizzie asked dangerously as she picked up the cup of coffee. "This!" Lizzie smiled enchantingly and walked over to him and then proceeded to dump the entire cup of coffee into his lap. "Apology unaccepted." Lizzie tossed a random bill from her pocket onto the bar and then stormed out.

The next morning Jane was up early and pulled her favorite white sundress with little blue and yellow flowers out of the closet and took a long shower. She hadn't gotten a lot of sleep, but you really couldn't tell. She just hoped Charlie was an early riser and took advantage of the free breakfast the hotel offered on Sunday mornings. She slipped on a pair of white heels and then made her way to the elevator. The elevator stopped at the second floor and a man got on. "Charlie!" Jane exclaimed as the door closed behind him.

"Jane?" he asked puzzled. "I didn't know that you were staying here. If I had, I would have invited you to breakfast this morning. You have to join me and my sister Caroline for breakfast. I insist."

"Well, if you insist," Jane smiled as the elevator stopped on the first floor of the hotel. She was keenly aware of Charlie's hand on the small of her back as he steered her towards the hotel restaurant. Charlie couldn't believe his luck. He'd met a girl who was an absolute angel and was having breakfast with her. He wasn't sure if that would be considered their first date, seeing as how he hadn't called it that, but he really hoped that she considered it a date. He hadn't really dated much since becoming the manager for _Dissolving Prejudice. _He had been told his home just outside of Nashville was very nice, but he had never seen it and had owned it for almost three years. Now that he had found a girl that he could spend time with, he would hate to let her get away…

Seven hours later at three o'clock in the afternoon, Lizzie finally stumbled out of the elevator. Her brown hair fell in spiral curls down her back, still damp from her hour long shower. She had on a pair of jeans and a tank green tank top that made her hazel eyes seem more green than blue and a pair of black flip flops. She looked more like a teenager than the twenty-four-year-old lead singer of a mildly successful country band. But, that was how Lizzie liked it. People generally didn't recognize her when she was free of her trademark black Stetson and makeup. In all honesty, she had completely forgotten about the man in the bar. After fuming about his rude behavior to Jane for the better part of an hour, despite the fact that Jane had dosed off in the first ten minutes of her tirade, Lizzie had promptly passed out and was quite willing to dismiss the whole thing as a rather crazy dream.

She most definitely had not expected to see the same arrogant man from the bar sitting with her sister and another man in the sitting area of the lobby of the hotel. It was one of the most surreal moments of her life. It was too bad that she had left her coffee back in the room, now she would have to face him unarmed. "Janie what are you doing up so early?" Lizzie asked with a yawn as she sank down next to her sister on a mint green sofa, directly across from the man from the bar.

"Lizzie dear, I hate to break it to you, but it's three in the afternoon," Jane replied with a soft laugh. "I've been up all morning. But I'm glad you are here. There are some papers that I need your signature on."

"Please tell me it's nothing from any lawyers faking lawsuits so that they can get my signature for their sons or daughters or third cousin seven times removed," Lizzie pleaded sleepily as she kicked off her flip flops and tucked her feet up under her. "I signed a grand total of eight hundred ninety seven autographs last night, and yes a few more would kill me."

"I assure you, these papers are not for anyone's third cousin seven times removed," the man sitting next to Jane said with a smile. "Unless you count me, because for all I know, I could be someone's third cousin seven times removed. I'm Charlie Bingley by the way."

Lizzie looked at him slightly stunned for a moment, no one had ever responded like that before. Then she burst out laughing and Jane started laughing with her. Before long the two sisters were holding their sides, they were laughing so hard. Leaving Charlie and the mysterious stranger completely mystified. "You have to understand," Jane began between fits of laughter. "That Lizzie here says that every time she is asked to sign something and most people look at her like she is nuts or sit there for an hour and try to figure out if there is such a thing as a third cousin seven times removed. Or better still, they start calling all of their family members on their way out asking of they have one. No one has ever actually joked back with Lizzie. She generally does it just to confuse lawyers and prove that they aren't as smart as they think they are."

After Jane's explanation Charlie started to laugh as well, which got Lizzie laughing all the harder, which then led to Jane laughing harder and that only added to the stranger's confusion. Then upon seeing the stranger's confusion, Lizzie laughed harder still and so the cycle continued for at least ten minutes until every eye in the hotel lobby was on them and upon noticing this, the stranger turned very red.

Finally, the laughter was brought under control, except for the occasional chuckle from Lizzie or Charlie and the stranger was finally introduced. "Lizzie, Jane, I'd like for you two to meet the lead singer from _Dissolving Prejudice_ Will Darcy," Charlie finally managed to say. "He wanted to listen in on our business arrangements and insisted that he be here. He actually arrived just a few minutes before you did Lizzie. Will, this is Lizzie Bennet. She's the lead singer in the band _Forget Pride._"

"He didn't tell you that we've already met?" Lizzie asked with an engaging smile. "Mr. Darcy and I had the pleasure of conversing last night at the bar when I went there to get a cup of coffee."

"I hope the coffee had the effect you intended it to have Miss Bennet," Will said, his voice laced with sarcasm.

"It didn't serve the original purpose I had for it," Lizzie responded mysteriously. "But it ended up fulfilling my expectations beautifully. So Charlie, you said you had papers that I needed to sign…"

Several hours later Charlie sat on the edge of his bed pleading with his friend. "Come on Will, I think this is a great opportunity," he pleaded as Will stepped out of the bathroom buttoning a starched white shirt. "You two will sound great together."

"There is no guarantee of that," Will replied as he tucked the shirt into his black dress pants. "Now finish getting dressed or we'll be late for that charity ball you are forcing us to go to. Besides, Lizzie Bennet does not have enough talent to even tempt me to sing a duet."

"Now you're just being cynical," Charlie replied as he grabbed his bowtie from where it rested on the bed next to him. He got up and walked over to the mirror so that he could see what he was doing. "Besides, I think she's got a great deal of talent and she's rather pretty as well. If you gave her half a chance, I think you two would get along wonderfully."

"Are you boys ready?" a sultry voice, or rather what it's owner considered to be a sultry voice, called as the door that connected the room to the next one opened and revealed a very thin woman with red hair in a very short and very tight black dress stepped into the room. "What do you think of my dress Will?"

"Caroline you are not wearing that," Charlie stated flatly. "I told you to not even pack it and that there would be no occasion for you to wear it. Go put on that lovely dress you bought when we were in New York last week."

"I don't recall asking your opinion little brother," Caroling replied snidely. "I was asking Will." As Caroline spoke she walked over to Will and leaned over him as he was sitting down to put on his shoes, giving him ample view of her cleavage.

"Get off me Caroline," Will said coldly as he tied his shoelace. "And although I know very little of women's fashion, I am inclined to agree with your brother. I think that dress is inappropriate for the function that we are attending and you should change. The invitation said formal attire while you look fit to stand on a street corner."

Caroline straightened and stood their for a minute, her mouth gaping rather like a fish and then let out an indignant huff and walked back through the connecting door, slamming it behind her. "Bravo Darcy!" Charlie exclaimed, clapping his hands enthusiastically. "I have never been so proud! For years I've wanted someone to knock Caroline off her high horse and I really hoped you would be the one to do it."

"Don't congratulate me yet," Darcy smirked at the closed door. "I believe where your sister is concerned, I only won one battle, we have yet to see who will win the war."

Charlie laughed heartily, which brought out a chuckle from Will was well. "Oh, by the way," Charlie began as both men put on their jackets. "I invited Jane and Lizzie Bennet to attend tonight as well. They'll be waiting for us down stairs in about five minutes." Will just glared at him and then grabbed his overcoat from where it lay draped over a chair. Two minutes later they left their suite and made their way to the elevator.

A floor above them, Lizzie and Jane had their hands full with three younger sisters crowded in their room whining, scolding, screaming, and complaining in turn. "Lizzie I still don't see why we can't go as well," Lydia pouted as she sank down on Lizzie's bed. "I think it's unfair that you and Jane get to go and we don't. We're members of the band as well…"

"You can't go because you were not invited," Jane supplied for Lizzie. "We can't just bring three more people with us. The limo would be awfully crowded."

"You're going in a limo!" Kitty screeched as she sank down next to Lydia. "You two get to have all the fun!"

"Believe me Kitty," Lizzie said as she applied mascara to her long eyelashes. "If it were possible, I would let you go in my place. However Charlie invited us specifically and there isn't time now for us to call him and let him know of a change in plans. Jane and I needed to be down stairs two minutes ago."

"What!" Jane cried with dismay as she grabbed hers and Lizzie's wraps from the closet. After Charlie had invited them, Jane had dragged Lizzie to a nearby boutique to buy appropriate dresses and the sudden change in weather required wraps as well. "Oh, what is Charlie going to think of me now?"

"He's going to think it was well worth the wait," Lizzie replied as she twisted the cap back onto her mascara and opened her tube of lipstick. Jane dropped her wrap over her shoulders as Lizzie applied her lipstick and then grabbed her handbag from where it rested on the table by the door. Jane was wearing a midnight blue dress with off the shoulder sleeves that fell all the way to the floor and had a little bit of a train on it as well. "Okay I'm ready," Lizzie said decidedly as she grabbed her purse from the vanity and stuffed her wallet and cell phone in it. "Now we both have our cell phones. If anything goes wrong don't hesitate to call us." With that, Jane grabbed her hand and almost dragged Lizzie down the hallway and into the elevator.

"It seems your date is late Charlie," Caroline said snidely. "Perhaps she decided not to come after all."

"She'll be here," Charlie replied, his eyes never leaving the elevator. "She'll be here."

"It's rude for them to keep us waiting," Will remarked as he brushed imaginary lint from his coat.

"It'll be worth the wait," Charlie said as the elevator doors opened. "See there they are…" Charlie had known that Jane would look beautiful in an evening gown, but just how beautiful had caught him unaware. She looked even more like an angel than he had expected. With her hair piled up on top of her head and her eyes emphasized by mascara and eyeliner, she looked to Charlie like she had been sent straight from Heaven. "Jane you look fantastic!" he blurted out and then blushed again for what seemed like the millionth time since he had met her barely twenty four hours before. "And Lizzie, you look very nice as well,"

"Thank you," Lizzie and Jane replied in unison. Charlie offered his arm to Jane and she took it gladly with a little giggle. Will gave a little sigh and offered an arm to Lizzie as well. Lizzie eyed him with distrust, but linked her arm through his. Caroline stood and watched, hatred for Lizzie mounting behind her calm exterior. If anyone were to be on his arm, it should be her. However, Caroline Bingley was completely forgotten once Will had Lizzie on his arm. He hadn't really considered how pretty she was. With her dark curls piled up on top of her head and her makeup done, she looked like a real lady. Then of course there was the dress she was wearing. The forest green velvet dress showed off her slim figure that curved in all the right places. Will hadn't expected the same girl who had worn a tank top and flip flops in Delaware in the middle of December could look so beautiful. But, of course, he was not about to admit that to her.

Lizzie was not pleased when she ended up sitting next to Will in the limo. She stared out the window, hardly paying attention to anyone. Jane tried to engage her in conversation, but Lizzie was a little preoccupied by the gathering clouds in the sky. "How cold would you say it is?" she asked no one in particular.

"About twenty degrees," Charlie replied. "The weatherman on the television this morning said that it should snow soon."

"Jane," Lizzie said with a glare.

"Lizzie, how was I supposed to know?" Jane asked helplessly as she almost flopped back against the seat.

"What ever is the matter?" Caroline asked with false sympathy.

"Lizzie wants to go back to Nashville," Jane replied with a sigh. "I think she is angry with me because now she might not be able to go home. She was going to catch the redeye last night until I convinced her to do the concert next weekend."

"Oh how terribly disappointing," Caroline said, her voice dripping with even more fake sympathy. Lizzie didn't reply though. She continued to stare out the window, thinking about the apartment she had been looking forward to decorating for Christmas. She'd spent all of six nights in that apartment since renting it and had really looked forward to spending her first holiday there. She was going to get a real tree and buy all of the ornaments from every store within fifty miles. Lizzie sighed and then put her gloomy thoughts aside.

Just as Lizzie was ready to become sociable again, the limo came to a stop on front of a stately old home. Will and Charlie were the first to climb out, followed by Caroline, who promptly began to cling to Will's arm. As Jane climbed out she was assisted by Charlie, then Lizzie started to get out as well. She went to reach for the edge of the limo, but found a warm hand instead. She looked up and saw Will staring down at her. Their eyes locked for a minute, but then Lizzie remembered just how much she disliked him and averted her gaze, but her hand lingered on his just long enough for him to disengage the arm Caroline was clinging to and tuck Lizzie's arm through his.

Lizzie, too stunned to have much of a reaction, allowed her self to be led into the house, her wrap and her bag were taken from her, and then she was led into the large ballroom of the old manor. She was introduced to more people than she cared to remember. Eventually she found herself sitting down at a table, where man after man approached her asking for a dance. She obliged most of them, but after an hour she was so tired, she sought the refuge of the table.

"Come on Will," Charlie pleaded. "Don't just sit there and look angry. I know you don't really want to be here, but Caroline is your publicist and she insists that you need the exposure. Why don't you dance with Lizzie? From what I observed she seems to be a good dancer."

"Charlie, I do not want anything to do with Miss Bennet," Will replied angrily. "I don't want to sing with her. I don't want to dance with her. I really don't want to have anything to do with her! So will you just lay off all ready!"

Lizzie froze in shock. She had never overheard someone talking about her in such a manner. Apparently Charlie and Will saw her standing there because both turned as white as a sheet. Lizzie straightened her shoulders and turned on her heel. "Lizzie…" she heard Charlie call as she went to find Jane and inform her that she was leaving. She searched for her sister among the dancers and finally located her at the buffet.

"Jane, I think that I am going to leave now," Lizzie informed her sister. "You stay as long as you like, but I think it's time for me to head back to the hotel."

"Lizzie…" Jane began, her pretty brow wrinkling with confusion.

"Have a good time Janie," Lizzie told her sister as she started to back away. "I'll see you when you get back to the hotel." With that, Lizzie backed away from her sister and almost ran to the coat check. After receiving her wrap, she slipped outside into the cold night air. Snow was falling gently, giving the world a peaceful and soothing feel. Lizzie closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. She could feel the anger and the tension slowly slip out of her body as she stood out in the cold. Why should she care what Will Darcy thought of her? No one's opinion of her had ever really mattered. His certainly shouldn't. But those dark eyes seemed to burn themselves into her memory and she couldn't escape them.


	2. Netherfield

Disclaimer: No I still don't own Pride and Prejudice. I do however own the song that they sing, seeing as how I wrote it specifically for this fan fic. So you definitely can't have that. But I would like to know what you think of it.

Lizzie stood up on the Netherfield stage wishing that her winter coat was just a little thicker. Her black Stetson crowned her dark curls and her feet were encased in a matching pair of boots. The snow hadn't stopped falling for almost three days and Lizzie had all but resigned herself to the fact that her quiet Nashville Christmas was a dream that she was going to have to kiss goodbye. Now, as the snow fell, it seemed like the concert that had kept her in town wasn't going to happen either. So, she was stuck on a stage, watching the snow fall, doing a sound check for a concert that was most likely not going to happen and to top it all off she had just been handed sheet music for a duet she was going to have to do with the one man she couldn't stand.

"Jane, I am not singing with him," Lizzie stated firmly. "I blatantly refuse to sing with that arrogant, self-serving, son of a… He's right behind me isn't he?" Jane nodded, clapping a perfectly manicured hand over her mouth to hide her smile. "Hello Darcy," Lizzie said flatly. "How kind of you to grace us with your presence."

"Hello Elizabeth," he replied in turn. "I'm sorry that I deprived you of my company for so long. So I take it that you got the lyrics for our song."

Lizzie sighed and rolled her eyes. She was well on her way to hating Will Darcy. Lizzie knew that Will probably expected that they would practice the duet, however she wasn't interested. So, she grabbed her guitar from its stand and walked off stage. She knelt down to where her guitar case rested and placed the guitar inside. She snapped it shut and then prepared to leave the stadium. Will's words from the other night still echoed in her ears and she wasn't quite ready to put them behind her. She greatly preferred playing the injured party in their strange relationship. "Elizabeth where do you think you are going?" Will asked angrily as he walked up behind her. "I expect an answer." Will grabbed her arm as Lizzie stood up and forced her to turn around and face him.

"Excuse me Darcy," Lizzie began with false politeness. "I was under the impression that you didn't want to have anything to do with me, let alone sing with me." She lifted her chin indignantly and squared her shoulders. "So I am at a loss as to why you are so anxious to sing with me now."

"Lizzie… I…"

"I'm not really interested in what you have to say," Lizzie informed his coldly. "Now if you will excuse me. I'm cold and I don't want to have to be out here and longer than necessary." With that, Lizzie left Netherfield and got into the waiting taxi to go back to the hotel. She was not willing to spend any more time with Will than was absolutely necessary. Besides, she was cold and her idea of a good time at that moment in time was a big cup of coffee and a chance to curl up under the covers so she could read the book she'd bought at the bookstore a block over from the hotel.

Lizzie had finally been able to settle under the covers with her book when the door flew open. "Lizzie, what do you think that you were doing?" Jane asked sternly. "I know that you are not fond of Will, but that doesn't mean you snub him like that. Do you have any idea how rude that was?"

"At least I had the courage to say what I thought of him to his face," Lizzie replied flippantly. "It was no more than he deserved after what he said at the charity ball the other night."

"What did he say?" Jane inquired as she sat down on the edge of Lizzie's bed and propped her arm and chin on her sister's knees.

"He said," Lizzie began as she puffed her chest out and attempted to sound manlier. "Charlie, I do not want anything to do with Miss Bennet. I don't want to sing with her. I don't want to dance with her. I really don't want to have anything to do with her! So will you just lay off all ready?" However when Lizzie recited his words, she said them in a humorous tone, completely unwilling to let anyone, even her twin, know just how much she had been hurt by Will's words.

"Oh Lizzie," Jane giggled. "Can you ever forgive me? If I had known how he had treated you, I never would have pressured you into singing with him."

"Of course you are forgiven Janie," Lizzie replied with a smile. "Darcy is the one I am angry with."

"I'll understand if you don't sing to him after all," Jane said sweetly. "But from what I've seen of him, he's very nice Lizzie. Maybe he was just a little out of sorts that night. I'm sure that all he needs is a second chance and he'll prove to be very nice."

"Oh Janie," Lizzie sighed fondly. "I wish I could think as well of everyone as you do. Now let me get back to my book."

"Fine Lizzie," Jane laughed and then kissed her sister on the cheek. "I'm going to lunch with Charlie and then we're going to the movies. I was told to offer you an invitation as well seeing as how Will and Caroline are going…"

"NO!" Lizzie exclaimed, her eyes widening with shock. "Do you really think I would willingly spend several hours in Caroline Bingley's company? Will at least hardly says a word, but Caroline won't shut up!"

"I was just kidding," Jane replied as she grabbed her coat, scarf, and gloves. "It's just Charlie and me. I think this might be a real date!" Jane's eyes lit up as she talked and she fairly glowed with happiness. Jane had always been extremely beautiful and most of the girls at the high school Jane and Lizzie had attended had been very jealous of Jane and had been pretty mean to her. She also hadn't had a lot of boyfriends because most guys had been intimidated by her beauty. Lizzie was happy that Jane and Charlie seemed to be getting pretty fond of each other. Jane deserved a little happiness after her rotten teenage years.

As Jane stepped out of the elevator and walked into the lobby, Charlie was there to greet her. "Jane!" he exclaimed happily as he walked up to greet her. "I was almost worried that you weren't coming."

"Lizzie needed me for a minute," Jane explained as they walked to the door and Charlie helped her put her coat on. "Thank you. But I left her buried under the covers of her bed with one of those mystery novels that she loves so much. She decided that she would just call room service for lunch and I'll see her for dinner." Jane tugged her gloves on over her fingers and Charlie took her scarf from where it rested in the crook of her arm and wound it around her neck.

As they walked out of the hotel Charlie took her hand in his and laced his fingers through hers. Jane looked down at their entwined hands and smiled as she thought of what a perfect fit their hands were. She looked up at Charlie and they smiled, both looking almost deliriously happy. Lizzie peaked out of the curtain and watched her sister and Charlie walking down the street. They looked so cute together; Lizzie couldn't help but hope that Jane had finally found the guy who was perfect for her…

Five hours later, Jane and Charlie ran back into the hotel. The snow had started falling thickly and outside it looked more like a white sheet than a town. Charlie turned back to look at Jane and thought she had never looked more beautiful. Her blond curls were messy and stray snowflakes that had yet to melt clung to wisps of her hair. "My ears are so cold," Jane laughed as she started to walk further into the hotel. However Charlie's hands over her ears kept her in place. "Allow me," he whispered, their faces so close that his breath tickled her lips. Their eyes locked and both smiled happily. "Are your lips cold too?" he asked playfully. All Jane could do was nod and Charlie's lips descended on hers. It was the sweetest and most tender kiss Jane had ever had. But they both would have had to have been fools to think that one kiss would be enough because as soon as their lips broke apart, his kissed her again with an intensity that took Jane's breath away.

"Lizzie's probably starting to wonder where I am," Jane said finally after breaking their kiss. His forehead rested against hers and she knew that if she didn't break away soon, she wouldn't be given another chance to. "I really need to go check on her."

"She's fine," Charlie attempted to assure her. "Don't go." Charlie's pleading green eyes were hard to resist but Jane knew that too much longer in his company and she could possible loose control, and that was something she desperately did not want to do. Jane finally managed to free herself from his arms and fled towards the elevator. "If she looks back she really does like me," Charlie whispered to himself. Sure enough, just as the elevator doors opened, Jane turned around to look at him and smiled. "Yes!" Charlie whispered enthusiastically and then did a little dance. Jane laughed so hard, the doors to the elevator almost closed before she stepped inside.

Lizzie, however, was not up in the room waiting for Jane. She'd gotten bored and decided to head down to the bar, just to see what kind of people were hanging out there. Jane was late, but Lizzie had expected her to be. Even the most clueless of people would notice that Jane and Charlie were well on their way to being totally and helplessly in love with one another. So, Lizzie sat down on a stool and ordered a cup of coffee. She didn't see Will around so, most likely, there weren't any arrogant know it alls around waiting to tell her that coffee actually did not help sober you up when you'd ingested too much alcohol to function properly.

So, Lizzie sat there staring absently at the cup of coffee in front of her, still daydreaming about how she would have decorated her apartment for Christmas. If she even managed to get back in time, there would be no chance to go shopping for ornaments or buy a tree. Instead, she would probably be spending her Christmas in a hotel because there was no chance of her going home to listen to her mother rant over how she was never going to find a suitable husband and live a normal life.

Suddenly, Lizzie heard raised voices coming towards her. "I can't believe that you thought that we would never find out!" she heard a very familiar voice yell. "The whole bank account is completely empty and you thought that we wouldn't find out!"

"I was going to return the money," another voice replied. "If you hadn't stopped me, I could have won it all back last night."

"Do you really expect us to believe that?" yet another voice yelled. "You completely drain the band's bank account and you expect us to believe that you were going to replace all the money?"

"I was going to!" the second voice yelled back.

Lizzie hunched over her coffee to make it seem like she wasn't listening as the voices approached, but couldn't help but sneak a peek at the voices owners. The first one to speak was exactly who she had thought it had been, Will Darcy. The other two were his band mates Jack Wickham and Fitz. No one really knew what Fitz's whole name was. He had always simply been called Fitz. Lizzie quickly looked down at her coffee and grabbed the mug to cling to it tightly.

The argument continued for several minutes and Lizzie was thankful that she was not noticed. Suddenly the bar stool next to her creaked and whoever sat down ordered a scotch and water. "Hello," the man greeted. Lizzie looked up and was surprised to see Jack Wickham sitting next to her.

"Hello," Lizzie replied and then drained her coffee cup, hoping to have an excuse to leave with grace, not to just have to get up and flee.

"I suppose you are wondering what that argument was all about," Wickham said with a sigh. "I don't think that you could help but overhear."

"I wasn't really curious," Lizzie responded and tried to slip down off the bar stool.

"No," Wickham almost yelled. "Stay. I need someone to talk to, someone who doesn't know me and expect the worst of me. You see, I had a good reason to take that money. My mom is really sick and she has been racking up some pretty high hospital bills. I've been taking the money a little at a time over the past few months to keep the creditors off her back."

"That's horrible," Lizzie said sympathetically and laid her hand on his arm. "Why can't you just tell Will and Fitz what is going on. I'm sure that they wouldn't be so angry if they knew that you had a good reason."

"Unfortunately," Wickham began as he hung his head. "Will and Fitz won't ever believe me. You see, a couple of years ago when we first started getting big, I got a little carried away with my spending and Will and Fitz had to help me pay off my creditors. They think that I'm falling back into my old overspending habits and wouldn't believe me if I told them the truth."

"Lizzie!" Jane exclaimed as she burst into the bar. "I've been looking for you everywhere! I have so much to tell you!"

"Sorry," Lizzie mumbled apologetically. "I'd love to talk some more, but I promised my sister that I'd have dinner with her."

"Wait," Wickham began with a frown. "You're Lizzie Bennet aren't you?"

"Yeah, that's me."

"I feel like such an idiot," he said and hit his forehead with the palm of his hand. "I didn't even recognize you and our bands are going to be playing together in a few nights."

"Listen," Lizzie said as she stood up. "I really would love to stay and talk, but I have a feeling my sister gave something up to keep our dinner plans, so I really have to go. I'll see you later though." With that, Lizzie escaped the bar and almost ran over to where Jane stood.

"Lizzie I just had the most amazing afternoon!" Jane exclaimed excitedly. "Charlie is so sweet and nice and perfect and…"

"Oh Janie," Lizzie cut in fondly. "I am so happy for you. It looks like you found the perfect guy huh?"

"I think I did," Jane replied, unable to contain her grin. "Lizzie, I know that it has only been a few days, but I think I might be in love with him."

"Well, don't fall in love too fast," Lizzie cautioned playfully. "I'm not quite ready yet to loose my only sane sister!"

Several hours later Lizzie sat on her bed flipping through a magazine as Jane watched the news. "I'm telling you Janie," Lizzie sighed. "Darcy just suspects the worst out of people. Jack is just trying to help his mother, but Darcy won't listen."

"Lizzie," Jane began tactfully. "I'm sure that there is a perfectly logical explanation for Will's treatment of Jack. After all, if you had already lent someone money to get them out of debt, and then find a bank account completely drained, you would be angry and suspicious as well."

"I would listen to what the person had to say," Lizzie replied with a frown. "I wouldn't just start yelling at them in a public place for everyone to hear."

"What if it were Lydia?"

"Well that's different!" Lizzie exclaimed as she threw the magazine onto the nightstand. "I know Lydia and I would know if our mother was ill."

"It's not really all that different Lizzie," Jane admonished softly. "I have no doubt that Will knows Jack a lot better than you do. We don't know all of the circumstances, or enough about either one's character. I don't think we can draw a fair conclusion based on our limited knowledge."

Lizzie just sighed and sank back against the pillows. Part of her knew that Jane was most likely right. Lizzie didn't know the whole story and she was unfairly acting as Will's judge. But there was something so nice about Jack. He seemed really open and honest. After all, he'd poured his heart out to a complete stranger didn't he? Why would someone do that if they weren't telling the truth? Lizzie knew that she wouldn't come to any logical conclusions so late at night. So, she told her sister goodnight and then turned off her beside light, leaving only the television to light the room.

The next morning Lizzie and Jane were awoken by a frantic pounding on the door. "I'll get it Jane," Lizzie yawned sleepily as she got up out of her bed. "Who on earth could want us at six thirty in the morning?" she grumbled as she slipped on her bright orange slippers and shuffled towards the door. "What do you want?" Lizzie almost growled when she saw Will standing on the other side of the door.

"Do you play the bass guitar as well?" Will asked frantically. "Jack has taken off and we don't have anyone to play in the concert tonight. Charlie's just starting to learn and we're desperate."

"Yes," Lizzie yawned. "I play the bass as well. What does that have to do with anything?"

"Did you not understand me?" Will inquired incredulously. "Jack is gone and we need someone to play in the concert tonight."

"What Lizzie is trying to say is that you haven't properly asked her to play," Jane informed him as she walked up tying her robe. Seeing Jane in her robe made Lizzie conscious of her own state of undress. She was wearing a blue silky camisole that left a good three inches of her stomach exposed and a pair of very short white shorts that left very little to be imagined about her figure. But backing off to go and get her own robe would show that she was embarrassed and she would not give Will that satisfaction.

Will sighed and hung his head. Lizzie certainly wasn't making this easy for him. Seeing so much of her pale smooth skin was driving him to distraction and she wanted him to put aside his pride and nearly beg her to play with them. "Lizzie," Will mumbled. "Will you please play the base for us tonight? I know that it's a lot to ask seeing as how your band is playing as well. But if we don't find someone, there won't be a concert at all."

That was when Lizzie noticed his state of undress as well. He was wearing a white undershirt and his boxers. If the situation over Jack leaving wasn't so serious, Lizzie would have laughed and was thankful that it was so early and no one was in the hallway. If anyone had seen them they would have most likely thought that Will was a spurned lover standing in the hallway pleading with the girl he loved, a look that was emphasized by the fact that Jane had slipped back into bed and that left only Will and Lizzie standing there and Will had the most adorable pleading look on his face. If Lizzie hadn't been so angry with him, she would have been about ready to fall into his arms.

But Lizzie was angry with him. So, the whole falling into his arms thing certainly wasn't an option. "I don't know any of your songs," Lizzie said finally. "We'd have to work all day. And I think we would have to try to put aside our differences and get along, even if it is only for a day."

"I will if you will," Will replied sticking out his hand. "Shake on it?" Lizzie stuck her hand in his and was surprised by how gentle his hands were. He held her hand a little longer than necessary and then snatched his hand away as if he had been burned. "Be at Netherfield by seven thirty." With that, he was gone, leaving Lizzie standing there watching the elevator doors close behind him.

At seven thirty-one Lizzie walked onto the stage at Netherfield. "You're late," Darcy barked as Lizzie stopped a few feet away from him.

Lizzie rolled her eyes. "One minute Darcy," she replied and put her hands on her hips. Will couldn't believe how adorable she looked with her blue suede coat and white scarf with the matching hat attempting to tame her brown curls, or at least keep them closer to her head. Her lips were shiny and her cheeks were rosy from the cold.

"My goodness!" Caroline exclaimed as she walked onto the stage as well. "Eliza, did you walk here?"

"Well, the hotel is just a few blocks over, and it has finally stopped snowing," Lizzie replied with a shrug. "I figured that wasting my money on a taxi would be pretty stupid. Now, I don't have my own bass. Is there one I can use, or do I need to get Kitty to let me borrow hers?"

"There's one right off stage that you can use," Will informed her, pointing her in the right direction. Lizzie nodded and then followed the direction his finger was pointing.

"She walked here?" Caroline asked incredulously. "Did you see the hem of her jeans? They were caked in at least six inches of mud and snow. And all because she didn't want to waste the money for a taxi…"

"I think that it was considerate of her to walk here," Will replied casually. "I know that I wouldn't want to drive on these roads, it's so icy and all. I don't think walking here was at all as difficult as you think Caroline."

"But in this weather? They're saying there could be another snow storm at any time. I think she was just exhibiting some rather fierce and unladylike form of independence."

"She did it for the music," Will said simply. "I think that is reason enough."

"Would you like it if any of your band members did the same?" Caroline asked pointedly.

"Certainly not," Will replied. "But I think that I would do the same." Caroline stared at him with her mouth gaping open and then turned on her heel and marched off into the wings. Lizzie walked back on carrying the bass and arched an eyebrow as Caroline huffed past. Lizzie thought she rather looked like an injured crow, with her stiff walk and arms flapping as she ranted and raved to herself. The thought made Lizzie giggle and she would have burst out laughing, if Will hadn't reminded her of his presence by clearing his throat. "Are you ready to begin?" he inquired and motioned towards a chair opposite of the one he was sitting on with a music stand in front of it.

"Will, I don't think that we are getting anywhere with this!" Lizzie cried out in frustration and sank back against the chair. Her back and eyes hurt from hours reading music and almost hunching over the unfamiliar instrument. It was one o'clock in the afternoon and they had been working for a little over five hours. The only thing that they had accomplished was giving both of them a migraine.

"Why don't we break for lunch and try again in half an hour?" Will suggested with a sigh. He was getting just as tired as she was and was twice as frustrated. He couldn't believe that Wickham had taken off the night before the concert and it seemed to be a lost cause. There was no way that Lizzie was going to be able to learn all of the songs that they would be playing in just a few hours. The doors would be opening in five hours and people were already lined up outside, hopefully not listening to the frequent outbursts of frustration. "Wait…" Will smiled slowly. "I have an idea!"

"What?" Lizzie sighed as she tossed her hair back over her shoulder. She'd been doing that quite a bit over the last five hours and Will had come to realize that it was a habit that she did whenever she was nervous or frustrated.

"What if we make the music larger and tape it to the stage?" he asked slowly as his eyes swept the stage. "We can scatter it around so that you can move and then change it in between sets."

While he had been talking, Lizzie had set the bass down next to her chair. She slowly processed all that he was saying and then her eyes lit up as he thought aloud. "Will!" she exclaimed happily. "You are a genius!" Lizzie stood up and threw her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. "Why didn't you think of that three hours ago?"

Will however, was too stunned to answer. The combined scents of Lizzie's hair and perfume were intoxicating and he found himself completely mesmerized by her close proximity. Suddenly they heard someone clear their throat. Lizzie and Will jumped apart and turned to see Jane standing there holding a couple of take out bags with a very amused smile on her face. "Charlie and I thought that you two might appreciate some lunch," she said with a smile. "He's setting everything up back in your dressing room Lizzie." Lizzie gave her sister a quick smile and then almost ran off the stage, her cheeks a bright red that had nothing to do with the cold.

After lunch, Will and Lizzie found a copy machine that they could use and got to work on blowing up the sheet music so that Lizzie could see it while standing up. They got all of the songs for that night blown up, they then got to work taping down all of the songs for the first set. After two hours, they stood back in the wings to admire their accomplishments. "So how about that duet?" Will asked dryly. "Jane and Charlie still want us to do it."

"I've played it a couple of times," Lizzie replied, not looking at him. "It's not too bad I suppose. But do you really think that we'll have time to learn it? We have three hours before the show starts, only two of which we can use to practice."

"I've already got it down," Will smirked. "And Jane told me that you do too."

Lizzie opened her mouth to reply, but found that she couldn't come up with a comeback for once in her life. She always had a slightly sarcastic remark on the tip of her tongue. But for some reason, Will Darcy could leave her speechless. Lizzie hated that he had that power over her. No one had ever left her without a smart remark like he did. She wasn't exactly sure how to react to that. Her father would probably be impressed though. He'd often told Lizzie that one day her quick tongue would get her into trouble.

"Lizzie I don't understand why only you get to play with the band!" Lydia whined as she flopped down on an empty chair in Lizzie's dressing room. "Maybe it's because I am so fat…"

"Lydia will you stop it!" Lizzie snapped. "I have enough on my mind right now. I don't want to hear your complaining!"

"Well, I don't understand why they didn't ask me to play the bass in place of Wickham," Kitty said with a discontented sigh as she flopped down next to Lydia. "I'm the one whole actually plays the bass…"

"If you two don't shut up…" Lizzie began threateningly and raised the hand holding her hairbrush as if to chuck it at her two younger sisters.

"Kitty Lydia, the makeup artist is waiting for you!" Jane called into the dressing room. Lizzie smiled when she saw her sister. Jane had been glowing with happiness for the last week since she had met Charlie. As far as Lizzie was concerned, Jane deserved to be happy. She and Lizzie had pretty much run away from home when they turned eighteen and Jane had worked her way through college while helping Lizzie get started with her music career. She'd never gone on a lot of dates and had only had two boyfriends in her entire life. Lizzie was so glad that Jane was finally living the life that she had always deserved to have.

So, the concert began and everything started off without a hitch. _Forget Pride _was a big hit and Lizzie almost forgot her nerves over having to play the bass. There was even a great turn out despite the snow. Tickets had almost completely sold out and sales at the product tables were going really well. But then came time for their duet. Lizzie had to admit that she liked the song. But Will's thoughtless words kept ringing in her ears and she couldn't help but have a bad feeling about it.

Jane had the song recorded by musicians back in Nashville and then had it sent to her laptop so Lizzie and Will didn't have to play their instruments. Fitz was still playing the drums though and some how Lydia managed to sneak her way on stage to play her tambourine and dance. Will and Lizzie were down center on the stage and both were holding cordless microphones. Lizzie felt a little weak in the knees when the music started, but she carefully hid it and got the audience clapping along with the music. Then she put the microphone up to her mouth and sang:

"She's been living her dream for the last six years

Now she's about ready to get out of here

She's got nothing to tie her down"

Then it was Will's turn. He couldn't help but marvel over how close the lyrics were to what was really happening in his life. It was as if someone had written the song just for the two of them. It was just a little bit creepy. So then it was time for him to start to sing:

"He's been lonely for way to long

And he tries to express it in every song

Some days he feels like he's gonna drown"

They were both shocked by how well their voices mingled together. Lizzie knew that Jane and Charlie were off in the wings applauding themselves over a job well done. The audience went nuts when they started singing together. Lizzie and Will's eyes locked as they started to sing:

"But maybe they could fall in love

Then forever they'd be each other's just enough

They could have it all for life

If they could just put their pride and prejudice aside"

Lizzie was glad when she could finally tear her eyes away from Will's. She tapped her hand against her thigh to the beat of the music. She knew what words were coming up next, and those lines were the hardest to say. But that was mostly because they were the truest for her anyway. So she sang:

"She knows her tongue is just a little too sharp

But she never dreamed he'd take it all to heart

Besides, it's too late to back down now"

Will especially didn't like his last solo. He couldn't help but wonder what Lizzie was thinking while he sang. For as much as he hated to admit it, Will couldn't deny that he was starting to fall in love with Lizzie. He didn't know why. When they spoke at all, all they did was argue. But he was starting to fall in love with her despite it all. So he started to sing:

"He's been falling in love a little at a time

He keeps thinking 'one day I've gotta make her mine'

He'll get her attention some way some how"

Lizzie almost sighed with relief as they started singing the chorus for the last time. She was so happy it was almost over with. She hadn't exactly hated singing with Will, and they did sound fairly good together. But she was still glad it was almost over. She smiled widely as they started to sing:

"Then maybe they could fall in love

And forever they'd be each other's just enough

They could have it all for life

If they could just put their pride and prejudice aside

But can they put their pride and prejudice aside?"

Will could hear the music fading. They were starting to loose the audience's attention. He knew at least eighty percent of the audience would be talking about how they belonged together and what a cute couple that they made. Well, Will figured he might as will give them a little fuel for the fire and wrapped an arm around Lizzie's waist. He pulled her close to him and pressed his lips against hers. Lizzie stiffened in shock and then melted into his kiss. For a few moments she was able to forget everything except the feel of his lips against hers. But then she remembered who he was and pushed away with as much dignity as she could muster. She didn't want to let the audience know the kiss was unwanted. They were already going to be on the cover of every tabloid.

Lizzie made it through the rest of the concert, her anger slowly simmering beneath the surface. Jane noticed between every set how Lizzie's eyes turned a little browner and her smile became a little faker. But since the audience couldn't tell, Jane wasn't about to say something and risk upsetting Lizzie even more. Finally the concert was over and Lizzie almost ran off the stage. She gave the bass to the nearest techie and stalked off to her dressing room.

"That song is going on the next album," Jane commented as she quietly slipped into her sister's dressing room. Lizzie turned around from where she sat at the vanity and glared at her sister.

"You'll have to find someone else to sing it," Lizzie replied angrily. "Because I am not singing with him again." Jane just shook her head and slipped out of the room. It would be best to leave Lizzie alone for a little while. She was angry and when she was angry, she could be kind of mean. But most of the time she just said things that she didn't mean. Jane would steer people clear of Lizzie's dressing room for a little while. Lizzie would be fine in a few minutes. She just needed a little time to herself.


	3. Christmas in Netherfield

Lizzie staggered into the hotel, weighed down by all of her purchases. Christmas was in a few days and Lizzie knew that she needed to get her Christmas shopping done, just in case they weren't able to get back to Nashville. Lizzie had completely abandoned hope. Not only was it two days before Christmas, but a large snow storm had settled over Nashville and it was unlikely to clear up for Christmas. Besides, it was highly unlikely that she and Jane both would be able to get a flight and Lizzie couldn't imagine a Christmas without Jane.

Jane and Lizzie had always been together. From birth they had been inseparable. Their mother liked to tell of how both of them cried all night the first five nights after their parents had brought them home from the hospital, but then slept like angels after their father had gotten the idea to put them in the same bassinet. Then, on their eighteenth birthday, Lizzie and Jane had left home together to go to Nashville. Lizzie had dreams of being a country music star and Jane wanted to go to a college in the area. So, they left home and attempted to fulfill their dreams on their own. They'd always shared every holiday together and as much as Lizzie wanted a quiet Nashville Christmas, she wanted Jane with her more. She would have plenty of years to have her Christmas. Jane was far more important.

"Here," a voice said pleasantly and lifted some of the packages off the top of Lizzie's pile. "Let me help you."

"Thanks Charlie," Lizzie sighed gratefully as they started walking towards the elevator. "I was worried that my arms were going to fall off. I've been Christmas shopping all day. By the way, do you think I could store some of this stuff in your room?"

"Why would you need to do that?" Charlie asked with an amused smile as he pressed the up button on the elevator.

"Jane is magnetically drawn to Christmas presents," Lizzie replied as they stepped into the elevator. "No matter where I hide them, she always finds them without meaning too. She decides to vacuum under the beds or clean out the closet or something of that nature and so she stumbles across all of her Christmas presents before I get a chance to wrap them."

"Of course you can!" Charlie laughed heartily. "I would hate to ruin Jane's surprise Christmas morning." The elevator doors opened and Lizzie and Charlie made their way down the hallway to the room that Charlie shared with Will.

"I forgot my key," Charlie frowned and then pounded on the door. "Will! Open up!"

"I can't believe you forgot your key again," Will grumbled as he opened the door. "What are you doing here?"

"Hi Darcy," Lizzie said sarcastically. "I'm fine, glad you asked. Now can you please move? This stuff is heavy."

"Don't be such a Scrooge Will," Charlie joked. "This is all for Christmas's sake. Lizzie needed somewhere to hide her presents. And where is your Christmas spirit?"

"I think he was working the day they passed it out," Lizzie joked as Will stepped aside and let her and Charlie in. "You remember the line, don't you Charlie?"

"Oh yes," Charlie replied as Will stepped out of the way so that the two could enter. "I thought that we were going to have to stand there for days. And all for the sake of a little Christmas spirit!"

Will stared at Lizzie and Charlie as if they were nuts and watched silently as Lizzie produced several large rolls of wrapping paper. "Okay boys," Lizzie sighed as she settled down on Will's bed and pulled the first bag she could grasp towards her. "The name of the game is wrapping. There's a different kind of wrapping paper for each of my sisters and Charlotte. All of the techies' gifts get wrapped in the snow man paper. As you pull a gift out of a bag, ask me who it is for and then get the appropriate wrapping paper. I got all of the techies the same thing, so that doesn't really matter. I got them all those light up glasses. I think the bag is the one over by your foot, Charlie. Lydia's gifts get wrapped in the paper with the blue snowflakes, Jane's in the red with the Christmas trees, Kitty's in the green with the Santa Clauses, Mary's in the white with the red and green snowflakes, and Charlotte's in the green with the teddy bears. Any questions?"

"Since when am I helping?" Will asked with the frown.

"Since I forced you to," Lizzie replied as she pulled on of Lydia's gifts from the bag and grabbed the blue wrapping paper. "Charlie, that bag next to your hand has scissors and tape in it; can you toss it to me?"

"Who is this for?" Charlie asked as he pulled a book out of a bag and tossed Lizzie the bag she had requested.

"I'll give you one guess," Lizzie replied as she tore open the package with the scissors in it. She pulled out a pair with black handles and handed them to Will, who had sat down next to her on the bed. She then reached over and handed Charlie a pair of scissors and grabbed the last pair out of the package. She tossed the package back into the bag and then pulled out the tape and repeated the process.

"Mary?" Charlie guessed with a sheepish smile and then turned very red when Lizzie laughed.

"Charlie, I'm shocked!" Lizzie laughed. "I thought that you held Jane in higher regard than that?"

"NO!" Charlie exclaimed. "I hold Jane in the highest regard!"

"Chill," Lizzie smiled. "I was just teasing you. So have you gotten Jane something for Christmas yet?"

"I've been trying," Charlie replied with a sigh. "But every time I think I have found the perfect present I find something else and then I can't decide which one she'd like more and I can't make up my mind."

"Would you like a hint?" Lizzie asked as she set the present she had been wrapping on the floor and grabbed another out of the bag. She handed it to Will and then handed him the appropriate paper. "At that little jewelry store down the street there's a necklace that Jane completely fell in love with. I was going to get it for her and have one set aside. But I'll write a note saying you can get it if you want me to…"

"Lizzie you're an angel!" Charlie exclaimed and threw his arms around her in a brief hug and then ran to the desk and grabbed a pad of paper and a pen. He tossed them to Lizzie and Lizzie quickly wrote a note and then Charlie dashed out the door, leaving a startled Lizzie and Will sitting there staring at the door. "Well," Lizzie stated matter-of-factly. "We have work to do."

Three hours later Charlie finally returned to the hotel and realized that he once again had forgotten his key. He knocked in the door of the room he shared with Will and received no answer, so he went down the hall and stashed Jane's present, as well as a few other gifts he had picked up while he was out in Fitz's room and went down to the lobby, hoping to find Jane before she made any plans for dinner. He'd made reservations at a little Italian restaurant while he had been out.

Five hours later Charlie and Jane had come back from dinner and Charlie once again knocked on the door, only to receive no answer. He knocked a little harder and still received no answer. A floor below Jane opened the door to the hotel room she was sharing with Lizzie, only to find it empty. It looked as if Lizzie had never returned from her shopping trip she'd gone on in the early afternoon and it was after eleven.

Lizzie yawned sleepily as she woke up. Her cell phone was going off and she started to slowly sit up to go and find her purse. Suddenly a warm arm shot around her waist and held her in place. "Don't go," a very sleepy Will grumbled and Lizzie was just about to give in and snuggle back into his warm chest when it dawned on her just where she was and what she was doing.

"Let me go!" she yelled and almost flew out of the bed. "What the heck happened here?"

"Why are you yelling?" Will asked as he sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. Lizzie felt her heart melt a little when she saw him sitting there in bed looking like a little kid who just woke up from a nap that was a little too long. "What time is it?"

"Almost midnight," Lizzie replied as she frantically gathered up all of her packages.

"What?" Will yelled and flung his legs over the side of the bed. "You mean we've been sleeping for the last five hours?"

"No duh, Sherlock," Lizzie replied sarcastically and finished stuffing the wrapped packages back into the bags that were scattered across the room. "Well, thanks for your help." With that, Lizzie slipped out of the room and made her way to the elevator. She had carefully averted Charlie's curious eyes and ducked her head until she slipped into the elevator. She sighed as the elevator doors closed behind her and leaned against the oak paneled wall. Her ringing cell phone ended up being left under Will's bed. Will watched as the door closed behind her and was left wondering what had just happened.

By Christmas Eve the snow had only managed to get worse. Hotel guests were recommended to stay at the hotel and not try the dangerous venture to the airport. Lizzie sat there in the window seat of her hotel room and stared out at the bleak whiteness that surrounded her. When she was little, she had loved snow and prayed for days when the snow was too thick to do anything but go outside and play. But this time, she was a little too depressed to think of all of the snow's possibilities.

Down in the lobby Jane carefully set her cup of hot cocoa on the coffee table and snuggled back into Charlie's side. "I'm really worried about Lizzie," she sighed and chewed on her lower lip. "She never gets this depressed. I just don't know what to do to cheer her up this time. I guess I just didn't realize how anxious she was to get home."

"Don't blame yourself Jane," Charlie said comfortingly and let his head rest on hers. "There's no way you could have known that a snow storm would set in and we would be stuck here for over a week."

"I know I just wish Lizzie would perk up," Jane replied, staring off in the general direction of the elevator. Will had been silently during this entire exchange, although he had been sitting across from Jane and Charlie, nursing a coffee cup between his hands. Suddenly he stood up and set his coffee cup on the table. With slow and deliberate steps he made his way towards the elevator. Lizzie had just walked over the coffee pot to make herself a pot of coffee when someone pounded on the door. "Will?" Lizzie asked with a frown. "What do you want?"

"Get your coat and come on," Will commanded as he walked into the room.

"I don't really feel like going out anywhere," Lizzie replied as she crossed her arms over her chest, leaning against the wall.

"I didn't ask," Will said stoically and walked over to the closet. He pulled out one of Lizzie's coats and tossed it to her. "Put that on."

"Will…" Lizzie began and then shrieked as Will picked her up and threw her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. "PUT ME DOWN!" she screamed as Will grabbed her coat with his free hand, seemingly oblivious to the pummel of Lizzie's fists on his back. "FITZWILLIAM DARCY PUT ME DOWN THIS INSTANT!!!!" Lizzie screamed as the door to the elevator opened and Will stepped out into the lobby. Caroline turned three different shades of white and then four different shades of red when she saw them as she walked out of the hotel restaurant. Jane immediately sat up straight when she heard Lizzie's voice and looked around, finally locating her sister. When she saw Lizzie thrown over Will's shoulder, she couldn't help but laugh. "Jane Margaret, this isn't funny!" Lizzie called to her sister as Will walked through the doors to the hotel and then dropped her into the snow.

"Lizzie, stop pouting," Will said sternly. "It is Christmas Eve and you have no reason to be the least bit unhappy. You are here with your sisters and your friends. You have the world dangling at your fingertips. Stop moping around and be thankful for what you have. My little sister is alone at school this Christmas because I couldn't get a flight home and I'm not sitting around moping am I?" With that, Will stalked back into the hotel, leaving Lizzie sitting there in the snow, her jacket sitting in her lap. She watched him go and suddenly felt a little ashamed of herself.

About an hour later the hotel manager knocked on Lizzie's door. "Miss Bennet," he began rather apologetically. "We were wondering if maybe, jut maybe, you would be willing to sing a little tonight. Just a few Christmas songs. Some of the guests are rather depressed because they can't get home to their families tonight and we are hoping to raise their spirits a little."

"I'd be happy to," Lizzie replied. "Would you like the rest of my band to play too?"

"No," the manager replied with an apologetic smile. "We've asked Mr. Darcy to sing as well though."

Lizzie arranged a smile on her face and then sank back against the closed door after the manager had given her all of the details. She was still wearing her soaked jeans from when Will had dropped her into the snow and a light green sweater that made her hazel eyes seem more green than brown. The manager had requested that she dress up. Lizzie groaned and then walked over to her closet. Jane had a little red dress that would be perfect for the occasion and she'd let Lizzie borrow it several times in the past. Lizzie dropped the dress onto her bed and then walked into the bathroom to take a nice long bubble bath before she had to get ready.

Promptly at eight thirty Lizzie walked out of the elevator and into the lobby. A piano had been set up in the middle of the lobby and Lizzie frowned a little. She had never had the patience to learn to play the piano. She had stopped after learning her scales and "Mary Had A Little Lamb." Lizzie hoped that all she had to do was sing. Lizzie had her hair curled and piled on top of her head. The red dress accented her narrow waist with the black satin sash and a black velvet chocker with a diamond pendant showed off her slim white throat. Those little black heels made her legs look long, sleek, and gorgeous.

Will stood back behind the piano, blocked from Lizzie's view, but he could see her very well. She looked more beautiful than he had ever seen her in that red dress. If he hadn't already fallen in love with her, he would have said she was dangerously close to stealing his heart. She walked over to the piano and looked around. Will watched as her perfect spiral curls caressed her shoulders and he once again thought of how smooth her skin looked. "Miss Bennett!" the hotel manager cried as Lizzie approached. "You are right on time. Please, have a seat here on the piano bench."

"I don't play the piano," Lizzie said with an embarrassed blush staining her cheeks. "All I really know are scales. I can go get my guitar…"

"Oh you won't be playing," The manager assured her, instantly setting Lizzie at ease. "Mr. Darcy is going to play and the two of you will sing!"

Lizzie opened her mouth to say something and then closed it again, suddenly aware that she had nothing to say. She silently sat down on the edge of the bench and stared down at her lap, not looking up when Will sat down beside her. "You do know enough about piano sheet music to know when to turn the pages, don't you?" Will asked quietly, leaning in to whisper into her ear. Lizzie sat up ramrod strait when she felt his warm breath against her ear and when he pulled away slightly, found herself missing the warmth. "Of course I do," Lizzie murmured, barely moving her lips. Part of her wanted to be angry with him, but his close proximity was causing her mind to start swimming.

After their impromptu concert, Lizzie and Will took at least two dozen pictures with fans. Some wanted pictures of just Lizzie and Will at the piano and then a professional photographer in the group took advantage of the situation. He pulled out his camera and started snapping pictures of Lizzie and Will sitting together on the piano bench. He started promising the he would develop the pictures and then sell them in the lobby the day after Christmas. After that, the fans stepped back and watched as the photographer had Lizzie and Will pose in at least two dozen different positions. He had Lizzie stand and turn a page of sheet music. He had the two of them sit there on the bench with Will's arm around Lizzie's shoulders. Suddenly one of the fans watching looked up. "Hey look, they're under the mistletoe!" the fan called excitedly. "Give her a kiss Will!"

Because of the last pose the photographer had them in, Lizzie's face was just a few inches from Will's. Their eyes locked and he paused for a moment, as if he were asking permission, and then gently pressed his lips to hers. The photographer and the fans went wild snapping pictures, but Lizzie and Will were both completely oblivious to their surroundings. What had started out as an innocent 'under the mistletoe' kiss had become more passionate and Will's hand had come up to gently caress her cheek. Lizzie finally broke the kiss because of a lack of oxygen. Will's forehead rested against Lizzie's and they sat there for several minutes, neither one moving. The photographer snapped at least a dozen pictures of the two of them sitting like that and then Lizzie stiffened and pulled away from Will. She rose to her feet and then ran from the room, leaving Will and a group of very confused fans behind her.

"MERRY CHRISTMAS LIZZIE!" Jane cried excitedly and pounced down on Lizzie's bed in a blur of pink silk pajamas and blond curls. Lizzie groaned and tried to roll away from Jane as she pulled the comforter over her head. Jane, usually so reserved and quiet, turned into a maniac Christmas morning. She acted more like a four year old than the twenty four year old she actually was. "Come on Lizzie!" Jane pleaded and sank down on the bed next to her sister. "Get up! It's Christmas!"

"What unholy hour are you trying to wake me up at this year?" Lizzie asked as she cracked an eye open, trying to see around Jane at the alarm clock by the bed.

"Lizzie it's six thirty," Jane replied as Lizzie sat up and rubbed her eyes sleepily. "It's a whole two hours later than when I first tried to get you up last year."

Lizzie groaned and then snuggled back down deeper under the covers. "Wake me up when the sun is awake too," Lizzie grumbled and curled into a ball. Suddenly, they heard a pounding on the door. Lizzie growled and curled up tighter. "That's probably your sisters."

"They're your sisters too," Jane laughed as she went to answer the door.

"Not when they're trying to wake me up this early!"

Jane opened the door and found herself swept into Charlie's arms. He kissed her soundly on the mouth and the pressed a small square package into her hands. "Merry Christmas Jane," Charlie whispered into her ear as she tore away the silver wrapping paper.

"Is there anywhere I can go to sleep like a normal person?" Lizzie called as she stood up and wrapped the extra blanket on her bed around herself, completely disrupting their romantic moment. "You two are way too mushy for six thirty in the morning!"

"You can go back sleep in my room," Charlie replied and tossed her his key. "Will's going to be out for another hour or two."

Lizzie nodded her head and slowly shuffled towards the elevator. After the door closed behind her, Charlie focused his eyes back on Jane. "Now, where were we?" he asked with a grin and Jane turned her attention back to the small white box in her hands.

Three hours later, Will stretched and finally sat up. He looked over at the alarm clock and saw that it was nine thirty in the morning. "Charlie didn't wake me up at some unholy hour like he usually does," Will mumbled to himself and then looked over at Charlie's bed. He was shocked to see that there was a human shaped lump in the bed. The year before, Charlie and Caroline had been staying with him and his younger sister for Christmas. Charlie had gone into the den and blasted "Carroll of the Bells" on the sound system that had speakers in every room at four thirty in the morning.

"Lizzie, Will, time to get up!" Charlie cried as he threw the door open. Will's eyes widened when he looked over and saw Lizzie sit up sleepily Her brown curls surrounded her head in a messy halo and the white tank top she had been sleeping in had ridden up and exposed the pale smooth skin of her stomach. She swung her legs over the edge of the bed and Will got an eye full of her long smooth legs because of the pair of guys' boxers she was wearing. She stretched lazily and exposed even more skin. "I suppose Jane is attempting to keep Lydia and Kitty away from their presents," Lizzie commented as she walked towards the door.

"I would say attempting is the correct word," Charlie replied with a laugh. "Now come on you too, we've already waited long enough to open presents and I should hate to keep those ravenous females waiting for us in the lobby from their presents and breakfast."

"Can I at least go and get dressed?" Lizzie inquired as she gathered her blanket up in her arms.

"Your sisters aren't," Charlie replied as Lizzie and Will dutifully followed him out of the room and down the hallway towards the elevator. "My sister felt the need to complete her entire morning routine before seven o'clock. But your sisters are still in their pajamas."

Lizzie laughed and wrapped her blanket around herself, wishing that she had remembered to wear her slippers as she danced lightly to keep her feet from getting too cold on the cold tile floor of the elevator. "Lizzie get your butt over here and let us open our presents!" Lydia screamed as soon as the elevator doors opened and Lizzie stepped out.

"I think I will go and get a cup of coffee first…" Lizzie began mischievously just to be silenced by the cry of "NO!" by all of her sisters and Charlotte all at once.

"Maybe I won't get my coffee after all," Lizzie laughed and then took a seat next to Jane on a sofa.

Four hours later Lizzie was once again sitting in the lobby with Jane, Charlie, Will, and Caroline. She and Will both had laptops settled on their laps and Will was very intently typing, stopping every few moments, and then would start typing furiously again. Lizzie had an e-book pulled up and was reading a new novel by one of her favorite authors. With being on the road all of the time, it was very difficult for her to get all of the novels she wanted, she she'd signed up with an internet library that let her get a new book whenever she wanted one. Jane and Charlie were sitting very close together, laughing and talking quietly, and Caroline was sitting rather primly perched on the edge of a chair reading the latest issue of some fashion magazine. "Goodness Will," Caroline exclaimed as she set her magazine aside. "You are such a fast typist. I do believe you put the rest of us to shame."

"Gina is much faster than I am," Will replied as he continued typing furiously. "She tells me very often that I must be the slowest typist she has ever known."

"You mean Georgiana?" Caroline asked with a fishy smile. As a matter of fact, Caroline always rather reminded Lizzie of a fish with her buggy eyes and narrow face. "How is my dear Georgie? I haven't seen her in so long. I do believe that she must be as tall as I am now."

Caroline did not see the faint shutter that ran through Will's shoulders when Caroline compared herself to his beloved baby sister. "No," Will corrected, still not looking up from his laptop. "I believe she is probably closer to Elizabeth's height than yours. She's telling me what she thinks of all of the presents I had sent to her at school. Apparently, Gucci is all the rage at her boarding school right now and her roommate is going to kill her so that she can steal the Gucci purse I ordered for Gina."

Lizzie looked up from her book with a slightly shocked look on her face and then smiled as she returned to her book. "And what has so completely captured your attention Eliza?"

"Lizzie," Lizzie corrected with a glare. "And I am reading a novel that I didn't have time to go out and buy. I subscribe to an internet library and so I decided that since I'm stuck here, I'd read a book."

"You must be a very great reader Eliza," Caroline commented as she picked her magazine back up and flipped through the pages. "I do believe that you could hardly find pleasure in anything else, other than your music of course."

"I'm not a great reader at all," Lizzie replied with a dry laugh. "It's actually just a great way to pass the time and tune out my sisters when I'm stuck on a tour bus with them for three days straight." Will stopped his typing and looked up at Lizzie, their eyes locking for a moment. Lizzie finally broke eye contact and went back to her book. "I know I really should get up and take a walk or something, but I have wanted to read this book for several weeks now and don't want to be interrupted for several more chapters at least." After effectively shutting herself out from future conversation, Lizzie went back to her book, only occasionally glancing up and each time she did her eyes met Will's.

The day after Christmas dawned bright and clear. The snow had stopped falling and the weatherman reported that it was finally above freezing Roads would be cleared and the airport would finally reopen. Lizzie skipped down the stairs, tired of taking the elevator all of the time, and happily pranced into the lobby and over to Jane. She stopped dead in her tracks when she caught sight of the tear streaks coursing down Jane's cheeks. "Janie what's wrong?" Lizzie cried as she rushed over to her sister. Jane handed Lizzie a piece of paper and stared down at her feet. Lizzie smoothed the paper on her leg and then flipped it over to read it. It read:

_Dear Jane,_

_I know my leaving may seem sudden, but Will wanted to get home to Gina before the end of her vacation and so we left on the first flight out this morning. Unfortunately we will not be going to Nashville for a few months at least so I guess this is goodbye. Will's aunt is the bands producer and she wants them all in New York for a while. I wanted to say it in person, but we are leaving at four thirty in the morning and I don't think you want me to wake you up for that. I hope I see you again soon._

_Your friend,_

_Chares Bingley_

"Oh, Jane," Lizzie exclaimed as she wrapped her arms around her sister. "Let's go home."

"Yes Lizzie," Jane replied as she rested her head on her sister's shoulder. "I want to go home."


	4. Hello Nashville

Lizzie and Jane stepped off of the plane and looked around the airport with Charlotte close on their heels. Lydia, Kitty, and Mary had all decided that they wanted to go home and see their parents while they had the time off. Lizzie however, had no desire to go home and Jane didn't want to explain the situation with Charlie to their mother. So, the older Bennett sisters had opted to go back to Nashville. Lizzie was anxious to get back in the studio. Her experiences had given her a lot of inspiration over the last few weeks and she was ready to start writing again. "Lizzie," Jane began with a puzzled frown. "Who is that short man waving at us?"

"I have no clue," Lizzie replied as she inspected the man who had started walking towards them. He was short with thick greasy black hair and thick glasses. Jane was never one to judge people based on appearances, but Lizzie was and Lizzie immediately decided that she was going to dislike the man who was rapidly approaching.

"Cousin Jane!" the man cried excitedly as Lizzie and Jane came to a stop in front of them. Jane's high heeled foot started to tap against the cold white tile, a sure sign of her impatience. Lizzie adjusted the way her guitar was resting on her back and they both crossed their arms over their chests. "Cousin Elizabeth! How wonderful it is to see both of you!"

"Have we met?" Lizzie asked immediately as she pulled her baseball cap lower to help hide her face, not that the guitar on her back wouldn't give her away immediately anyway. People in the airport were already trying to get a glimpse of her face and she could hear people speculate about who she was and why she was carrying a guitar. "Because I certainly don't remember you."

"I am your aunt's cousin," the strange man replied. "My name is Edward Collins. I talked with your mother on the phone and she said that you two would appreciate having someone to pick you up from the airport."

"So we aren't actually related?" Lizzie inquired as they started walking towards the baggage claim. Lizzie was disliking Mr. Collins more and more with every word he spoke. He was short and his clothes were messy. His hair and skin were greasy. Lizzie couldn't imagine being more repulsed by anyone.

"No, thankfully we are not," Edward replied with a smile that let Lizzie know that he was thankful for very different reasons than she was. Lizzie was very thankful for the lapse into silence as Lizzie, Jane, and Charlotte waited to claim their bags. Lizzie grabbed her suitcase as it passed her and then stared down at it until Jane and Charlotte had their bags as well. Although there were whispers as Lizzie passed, no one actually asked her for her autograph or anything so Lizzie was thankful for that at least. They made it all the way out to the town car Lizzie had waiting for them.

"I can't believe that man had the nerve to meet us at the airport!" Lizzie fumed after the door to her apartment had been firmly shut in Edward Collins's face. "I mean honestly, in what world was that a good idea?"

"I think maybe his heart was in the right place," Jane sighed as she wheeled her suitcase to her room. "You always say how you hate having to watch other people greet their loved ones and we almost never have anyone there to greet us. It does get a little depressing sometimes Lizzie."

Lizzie sighed and then went to her own room, hefting her bag up onto her bed. Her room was a pale blue with cheery yellow curtains in the window. Jane had gone through a 'home maker' period and had hand sewn curtains for every room of the apartment they shared in Nashville. Charlotte had an apartment a few blocks away and Kitty, Lydia, and Mary generally lived at home and checked into a hotel for a few days whenever they had to come to Nashville. Her queen size bed was covered with a white down comforter and a blue and yellow quilt was folded at the foot of the bed. Lizzie had called the cleaning woman before they'd gotten on their plane and requested that she come and air out the apartment and turn the lights on for Lizzie and Jane. Of course, Lizzie had to pay a little extra for the service, but she didn't really mind.

Lizzie opened up her suitcase and looked at the envelope that was resting on top of her clothes. The photographer who had taken pictures of Will and her on Christmas Eve had knocked on their door while she was packing and handed her an envelope. Lizzie had just tossed it into her bag and not even bothered to look at what was inside. Lizzie sank down onto the bed next to her suitcase and took off her shoes. She tucked her feet up under her and slid a fingernail under the flap of the envelope. Slowly she flipped through the prints, studying each one carefully. She looked happy. That was surprising. Then she came to the pictures of their kiss and suddenly she could feel the pressure of Will's hand against her cheek.

Lizzie shook her head and then slipped the prints back into the envelope and tossed it on the floor. She wasn't in the mood to think about Will or Charlie of Caroline or any of those people who had somehow managed to squeeze their way into her life in a little over a week. She didn't want to think about the man that she had kissed twice in about a week and she definitely didn't want to think about those kisses. Lizzie stood back up and then opened the mirrored closet doors and started to put her clothes away.

Lizzie was interrupted from her task by the ringing of her cell phone. Lizzie managed to turn to fast to grab her purse off her bed and came crashing down to the floor. She went to reach for the bed to steady herself, but instead managed to grab her purse strap and pulled it down on top of her, her cell phone falling out and hitting her on the head. Lizzie groaned and then flipped her phone open and pressed it to her ear. "Hello?" she asked warily and she pulled herself up into a sitting position.

"Lizzie why didn't you come home for Christmas?" her mother screeched into the phone.

"Mom, hi," Lizzie replied with false sweetness. "How are you?"

"Elizabeth I am not amused," her mother responded.

"Really Mom?" Lizzie asked with her voice dripping with false sweetness as she stood up and then flopped down on her bed. "Because I wasn't all that amused either when some strange man followed me through the airport claiming to be my cousin."

"So Edward found you!" her mother exclaimed happily.

"That would be the understatement of the year," Lizzie grumbled as she stared up at the white canopy that hung over her bed.

"Listen Lizzie," Mrs. Bennett said seriously. "I want you to be very nice to Edward Collins. He is your father's nephew and is going to inherit your father's business one day. It would mean a lot to both of us if you were to be kind to him and show him around Nashville."

"Fine," Lizzie sighed and rolled over onto her stomach.

"I'm serious Elizabeth," her mother cautioned.

"I got that Mom," Lizzie replied as she stifled a yawn. "Listen, I've got a lot to do and I'm pretty tired. I'll talk to you later Okay?" Lizzie said goodbye to her mother and continued to stare at the canopy. He couldn't be staying too long. Lizzie had a recording session the next day, so she should be free from him then…

"But maybe they could fall in love…" Lizzie sang into the microphone of the studio. Then suddenly her producer's voice cut in.

"It just doesn't sound right Lizzie," her producer and uncle, Jake Gardner, sighed and tiredly rubbed his eyes. "I think that we are going to have to get Will Darcy here and have you two sing the song together. It was written to be a duet and you can't sing it alone."

"I don't need Will Darcy," Lizzie grumbled and crossed her arms over her chest as she impatiently tapped her bare foot on the floor. She was standing in the recording studio wearing holey jeans and an old t-shirt. Her grubby sneakers had been cast aside as soon as she'd gotten into the studio and her mood had been rapidly deteriorating. She'd been singing the same song for almost three hours. She was tired, hungry, and her throat was starting to get hoarse. "I can sing the song on my own," Lizzie replied into the microphone. "Don't bother even asking Darcy. It just about killed him to sing with me the first time."

"Well we have to get someone," Jake replied as Lizzie opened the door and stepped into the booth. "I don't care who. Just pick another male artist and we'll see what we can do. That song was meant to be a duet and you singing it alone just isn't doing it justice."

"I'm glad you have so much faith in me and my abilities Uncle Jake," Lizzie smirked as she took a seat in one of the desk chairs pulled up close to the soundboard.

"That's not what I meant Lizzie and you know it," Jake groaned.

"Well what do you suggest Mr. Producer?"

"I suggest that we call Will Darcy, arrange for him to fly in for a day or two to record the song, and just call is quits for today," Jake replied with a grin.

"Is there another option?" Lizzie questioned hopefully as she curled up in the chair and rested her chin on her knees.

"You are usually happy to get out of the studio," her uncle commented wryly. "Your reluctance to leave couldn't have something to do with one Mr. Edward Collins? Would it?"

"He's waiting to take me to lunch," Lizzie groaned and leaned back in the chair so that she could stare up at the ceiling. "I tried to tell him that I would probably be in the studio all day, but he assured me that he would keep his schedule clear just in case and now it's not even eleven o'clock."

"My poor niece," Jake laughed as Lizzie started to spin the chair around in circles. "Well I suppose you ought to call him now and let him know that you are able to go to lunch with him after all."

"Have I told you lately that I hate you?"

"I'm your favorite uncle Lizzie," Jake reminded her as he walked to the door of the studio. "You'll never hate me." Lizzie's only reply was to throw the sneaker she was attempting to put on her foot at her uncle, but she missed. The only satisfaction she achieved was the loud thump the shoe created when it struck the door.

Two days later Will Darcy stepped off a plane into the Nashville airport. He wasn't crazy about seeing Lizzie again, that was certain. But his agent wasn't giving him any chance to back out of it. They had to record the song and release it before they lost all possible capital due to the amount of videos that were recorded at their concert and on several websites. So, there Will was, in a place he didn't want to be, looking for someone he probably didn't know, and in a very foul disposition.

Lizzie sat there on the back of a couch in the terminal waiting for Will to step off the plane. Her dark hair was pulled back into a pony tail with a ball cap pulled low on her face hoping to be recognized as few times as possible. She sat there with her chin resting in her palm and her jacket folded in her lap. Her t-shirt was one she'd gotten from Wal-Mart when she'd gotten paint on the one she had been wearing. There was nothing about her the screamed "CELEBRITY!" but Will on the other hand, Lizzie had to cover her mouth to keep from laughing aloud when she caught sight of him.

Will was completely opposite from Lizzie. Although his clothing was casual, every inch of him screamed designer brands. His jeans were obviously custom made and his white button down shirt just screamed 5th Avenue. The dark sunglasses in the airport did nothing for him, especially with the little logos on the sides and the custom made guitar case on his back definitely gave away the fact that he was a musician.

"You know something Mr. Darcy?" Lizzie called as Will was about to walk past her. "You should be a spy because you are completely inconspicuous."

"Your sarcasm is not appreciated Miss Bennett," Will replied with a tired glare as Lizzie stood up and started to walk with him towards the baggage claim. "At least I do not look like some back woods hick from the middle of nowhere."

"Do you want a ride to the studio or not?" Lizzie asked with a glare. "Because there are several high profile weddings today and you are not going to be able to call a car unless you want to wait at least two hours for it. Or you could always take a cab…"

"Don't threaten me Lizzie," Will sighed as he took off his sunglasses and tucked them into the breast pocket of his shirt. "I just had a very long plane ride and am not in the mood for your jokes."

"Fine, Mr. Darcy," Lizzie replied a little childishly and crossed her arms over her chest.

"I'll be just as dull as you are."

Will simply grunted in reply and grabbed his bag from the baggage claim and followed Lizzie out of the airport. Lizzie was expertly leading the way towards the parking garage when her black four-door BMW pulled to a stop in front of them. "I thought that you might like a ride…" Edward Collin's said as he lowered the driver's window.

"How did you get a set of keys to my car?" Lizzie asked angrily as she stood there tapping her foot to an erratic beat to help her keep her anger in check.

"Jane," Edward replied simply and popped the trunk. "Mr. Darcy I'm sure you would like to put your suitcase and guitar away. Then we can head to the studio."

Will silently did as Edward had suggested, but Lizzie could tell that he was barely keeping his anger in check as well. Will's teeth were obviously clenched as he all but slammed the lid of the trunk and then walked around the car to open the passenger door. "Don't take it out on my car," Lizzie mumbled under her breath as she walked around the car as well. "Why are you just standing there?"

"Just get in the car," Will replied and as Lizzie started to open the back door he sighed in exasperation. "Not there," he hissed.

"I don't particularly want to sit next to him," Lizzie replied in a whisper.

"Elizabeth, don't be difficult," Will responded. "I don't even know that man."

Lizzie rolled her eyes and then slipped into the car and Will shut the door behind her. He slipped into the back seat and he and Lizzie simultaneously buckled their seatbelts. Lizzie sat there silently fuming that Edward had some how managed to get keys to her car and follow her to the airport. Will however, had not been joking when he had said that he'd had a long flight. Lizzie had thought he was flying in from New York. But the truth was that he'd had to leave New York to go and take care of something for his younger sister in California. Will leaned back against the seat and closed his eyes. Lizzie never told him that he snored…

Lizzie once again sat spinning in her favorite desk chair as Edward sat there droning on and on about his employer, Catherine de Bourgh, and her wonderful concert hall, Rosings Park. Will. She was actually starting to feel sorry for Edward Collins for some odd reason. Will was cold and distant to say the least and Edward just was not getting the hint that Will did not wish to talk to him. "And did you know that there is a recording studio at Rosings Park that costs well over two million dollars?" Edward asked Will. "Your aunt is a very wealthy woman and I do believe that Rosings Park is the grandest concert hall I have ever been to."

"Lizzie, Will, you two get into the studio so we can start recording," Jake instructed as he walked into the booth. "Collins, go away."

"I think that it would be beneficial to both Lizzie and Will if I stayed here," Edward replied with a sickening smile. "I do, after all, work for Will's aunt and Lizzie could always use moral support."

"Recording sessions are closed to anyone who is not an employee or artist," Jake replied with a stern look. "Now you get out of my studio before I make you get out."

"Go Uncle Jake!" Lizzie cheered as a very flustered Collins stormed out of the studio. "I always said that you were my favorite uncle."

"What happened to you hating me?"

"You made the worm go away," Lizzie replied with an impish smile as she all but skipped into the studio.

Unfortunately Lizzie's relief was short lived. Her uncle immediately proposed that they all go out to dinner and it would be his treat. It would have been extremely rude not to invite Edward, or so Jane had insister, so Lizzie reluctantly called him and told him of their plans. Lizzie had just barely had time to run home, get a shower, and dress before he was pounding on the door. He'd insisted on driving her and Jane to the restaurant and Lizzie had been unable to think of a way to get out of it.

So, there Lizzie sat in one of the most expensive restaurants in Nashville with Edward Collins to her left and Will Darcy to her right. She was once again wearing one of Jane's dresses. She'd intended on throwing on a clean pair of jeans and one of those tops that designers were always sending her, but Jane had snuck into her bathroom while she was showering and replaced the clothes that she had haphazardly thrown on the counter with a white dress with a red satin sash and a neckline that was a little lower than Lizzie would consider decent.

The restaurant was large and spacious. The tables and booths were scattered through out the room, but they were all far apart. The lighting was dim with lamps hanging from the ceiling. The deep burgundy leather of the booth they were sitting in glowed in the soft light, but Lizzie could feel the skin of her bare back sticking to the leather and didn't want to think about how painful it would be to stand up again.

Edward had been going on and on about Rosings Park, the concert venue where he worked with its 4.3 million dollar sound system and its prestigious owner, Catherine de Bourgh. Lizzie had heard all about Rosings Park and its owner several times already and had quickly tuned him out, instead concentrating on stabbing the salad in front of her. She sat there viciously spearing the lettuce, imagining that it was Edward she was stabbing rather than a helpless green plant.

"Wouldn't you love to play there Lizzie?" Edward asked her just as Lizzie had taken a bite. Lizzie inwardly groaned and sank back a little more against the cushion of the circular booth they were sitting in. Why as it that people always managed to ask her a question at the most inopportune moment?

"Well, I've heard a lot about it…" Lizzie began only to be cut off.

"And you Mr. Darcy?" Edward asked, his voice dripping with flattery.

"I have had the pleasure of playing there before," Will replied simply before taking a sip of his water.

"Oh yes!" Edward exclaimed unexpectedly. "How could I have forgotten? You are Mrs. de Bourgh's nephew!"

Will pressed his lips together and frowned. He hated when people brought up his aunt. In truth, she was his least favorite person on the planet, maybe excluding the man who was sitting across the table from him. But Will was having a hard time focusing on whatever it was the Edward was babbling about. All he could focus on was the fact that Lizzie was very close to him and every now and then her leg would brush his as she shifted in the booth to keep her skin from sticking to the seat. Lizzie managed to free her skin from the booth, but immediately Goosebumps covered her skin. Will unthinkingly shrugged off his suit jacket and draped it over her shoulders. Lizzie stiffened at first, but then sank back against the booth, settling into the warmth of his jacket.

Jane sat across the table watching her sister and Will Darcy. She couldn't understand why Lizzie said that she disliked Will so much when she was sitting so close to him, but maybe that was because Edward was on her other side and Jane could completely understand why Lizzie wanted to be as far away from his as possible. After he'd gone through her purse and taken her set of keys to Lizzie's car, Jane was not the least bit fond of Edward. But Will seemed very considerate and he was very attentive to all of Lizzie's needs throughout the meal. Jane wasn't quite sure what to make of the situation, but she was sure that Lizzie and Will liked each other a lot more than they let on.

The two weeks of Edward Collins's visit were the longest of Lizzie's life. He was so unbelievably dull! Lizzie found herself imagining all of the creative ways she could kill him and never get caught. But she hardly imagined that anyone would miss him and report him missing to the police if she did kill him. He was the most odious man she had ever had to stand. He'd accompanied her when she'd gone shopping. He'd forced her to go out to dinner with him. He'd arrived at the apartment every morning with breakfast for them, which would have been acceptable, if he hadn't made the comment that he'd gotten everything low fat because he figured the Jane and Lizzie were both watching their weight.

Finally, one morning Lizzie was about ready to snap. She had just about had it with Edward and as they sat there at the cherry wood table with Lizzie poking a doughnut with her finger rather than eating it. "Lizzie…" Edward began as he started to drum his fingers on the table top, which was one of his many annoying habits. "Can I speak with you for a moment?"

"I was just going to the kitchen to make another pot of coffee anyway," Jane smiled as she picked up her coffee cup and slipped into the kitchen. "Take your time."

"Jane!" Lizzie called after his sister pleadingly. But Jane just winked and pushed open the swinging door to the kitchen. "So, Edward, what do you want to talk about?"

"I know that we have only officially known each other for a few weeks Elizabeth," Edward began as he rose from his chair and walked over to Lizzie's. "But I feel that we have known each other much longer."

"Maybe we've known each other too long," Lizzie mumbled under her breath as she wrapped her slender slightly callused fingers around her coffee mug. She stared down at the darkly colored coffee and was suddenly reminded of a pair of very handsome dark eyes that belonged to the one man who she couldn't stand. She got so caught up trying to wipe the image from her mind that she missed most of Edward's next few sentences. "My reasons for…." Those dark eyes could just make her weak in the knees if she let them. "And my happiness…" And that strong chin that accompanied those eyes was almost perfect. "So that is why I think that we should…" Why was she thinking about him again? Will Darcy seemed to be invading her thoughts and it was driving her crazy. "So what do you say?"

"Excuse me," Lizzie replied startled. "What did you say, I wasn't paying attention."

"Elizabeth, I just asked you to marry me," Edward frowned deeply from where he was kneeling at her feet. "I just stated that…"

"NO!" Lizzie all but screamed. "No, she managed to state more calmly.

"Elizabeth, if you would like more time to consider my offer I completely understand…"

"I have already made myself perfectly clear," Lizzie replied as she rose to her feet. "I said no."

"Lizzie if you could just see the circumstances…"

"What part of no do you not understand?" Lizzie asked impatiently as she crossed her arms over her chest. "It's only a two letter word."

"I understand that women sometimes like to toy with men's affections and…"

"I don't play mind games," Lizzie replied angrily. "Now get out of my apartment before I call the cops for harassment."

Edward Collins' mouth opened and closed a few times, making him look very much like a fish, before turning on his heel and storming out of the apartment. Lizzie smiled and let out a little chuckle before sinking down into the closest chair so that she could finish her coffee in peace.

A/N: Sorry ya'll that this has taken so long for me to update. School has been sucking the life out of me and I haven't had a lot of time to do much else. But I am on Spring Break now and I'm hoping to get a bunch of chapters written. Now, based on the number of hits I'm getting for this story, I know people are reading this story, so I want at least ten reviews for this chapter or no new chapter.


	5. Goodbye Charlotte

Will watched as Lizzie sat there spinning in her favorite chair in the studio with her guitar on her lap randomly strumming chords. She'd kicked off her shoes almost as soon as she'd walked into the room and they sat haphazardly by the door. Jake had wanted them to wait for a while before actually going into the studio to start recording. Lizzie hadn't grumbled once about the wait. Which was surprising since they had been sitting there doing nothing for the better part of an hour. Instead of getting irritated, Lizzie had a victorious grin tugging at the corners of her lips.

Suddenly Lizzie screamed and then turned beet red as she set her guitar down next to her so that it leaned against the chair and pulled her cell phone out of her pocket. Apparently she'd forgotten that it was on vibrate. Lizzie looked at the caller ID and sighed before flipping her phone open and pressing it to her ear. "Hi Mom," she said as she stood up and placed her guitar in the chair and grabbed her jacket before walking out of the room. Will was a little disappointed that she hadn't stayed. He'd wanted to know what her mom had called about, but he couldn't let her know that.

"Hold on a minute Mom and let me get out of the studio," Lizzie said into the phone, never giving her mother a chance to talk as she weaved her way in-between people and shrugged into her jacket as she made her way outside. "So, isn't this a little early for you to be out of bed?"

"ELIZABETH NICOLE BENNETT HOW DARE YOU REFUSE EDWARD COLLINS!" her mother screamed into the phone. "There that poor man was, offering you marriage, a stable home, money, and everything you could ever need to be happy, and you go and turn him down!"

"Mom," Lizzie sighed. "I am not going to marry anyone as frog-like as Edward Collins. His proposal was so completely insulting! I refuse to marry anyone who accuses me of mind games and thinks that I would stoop so low as to toy with a man's affections to get what I want."

"Lizzie, I want you to call Edward Collins right this instant and apologize and tell him that you would be happy to marry…"

"Bye Mom," Lizzie said before closing her phone with so much force that she had to open it again and make sure that she hadn't cracked the screen. She slipped her phone back into her pocket and stormed back into the studio. Will was not prepared for Lizzie's sour disposition when she walked into the room, slamming the door behind her. "I have never been so glad that I moved to Nashville!" Lizzie cried out in frustration as she leaned against the door and closed her eyes. Will didn't deserve her anger, not then anyway, and she didn't want to take out her frustrations on anyone else.

Will wisely decided to remain silent as Lizzie stood there, instead he watched as a thousand different emotions played across her face. She went from angry, to disappointed, to hurt, back to angry, and finally she looked so sad that it was all Will could do not to take her in his arms and tell her that whatever was so wrong would be alright in the end. But he knew that she would not react kindly to that and so he let her stand there and get herself under control.

Suddenly Lizzie's phone rang again, this time it wasn't on vibrate, and Lizzie pulled it out of her pocket to stare at the caller ID. It wasn't her mother, so she figured it was safe to answer. "Lizzie, do you have any idea why Edward Collins is at my apartment?" Charlotte asked.

"Sorry Char," Lizzie replied with a sigh. She thought about walking back outside, but arguing with her mother left her emotionally drained and she really didn't feel like expending the energy it took to make her way back through all of the people milling through the lobby of the recording studio. "I don't know how he got your address. Probably the same way he got my car keys. Just kick him out if you want. But whatever you do, don't send him back to my place."

"Lizzie, he seems really upset," Charlotte told her as Lizzie sank to the floor and let her chin rest on her knees. "Why don't I let him stay here for a few days and get him back on his feet before we send him back to wherever he came from?"

"Do whatever you want with him as long as I don't have to see home again," Lizzie replied. "Listen Char, I've got to go. I'll call you later and see how things are going with him. If he gets too annoying, just go ahead and send him back to Rosings Park. I don't really care what happens to him as long as he's out of my hair." Lizzie said goodbye and then hit her head against the door and closed her eyes.

"What was that all about?" Will asked curiously, then immediately could have hit himself for letting that pop out. The last thing he wanted was to make Lizzie even more upset than she already was.

"Edward Collins felt the irresistible urge to ask me to marry him this morning," Lizzie replied as she stared up at the ceiling. "I have now had a huge fight with my mother about how I am not going to marry him and have pawned him off on my best non-related friend. I spend more time arguing with my mother than I do anything else, so that doesn't really bother me. I just feel really bad for Charlotte."

"And it's not even noon yet," Will muttered sympathetically.

"You said it," Lizzie replied and rested her forehead against her knees.

Two weeks went by before Lizzie could blink. She'd been in the studio every day with Will and her uncle. For some reason the song just wasn't sounding right no matter what they did to tweak it. So, Lizzie was standing on a stage of a stadium in Nashville. Jake had decided that it would be a good idea to try to record the song in a stadium rather than in the studio. Lizzie sat down on a speaker and swung her feet as techies ran around trying to get everything ready. "Excuse me Miss Bennett, but we need to move that speaker now," one of the techies said and Lizzie immediately hopped to her feet.

The snow had started to fall again and Lizzie was feeling as if she had already been in that situation. Snow flakes were clinging to her hair that was hanging in loose curls down her back. Her puffy white vest made her skin look a little paler than usual, but made her hazel eyes sparkle and Will could hardly look her in the eye without getting lost in them. Lizzie took a seat on the edge of the stage and once again started swinging her feet, looking adorably childish and making it very hard for Will not to kiss her again. Suddenly her phone rang. Will watched as she put the phone to her ear and said hello. Suddenly her face turned as white as her vest and the phone clattered into the band pit.

Lizzie stood up and fled. She just started running across the stage and outside of the stadium. Will watched as she burst out the back stage door and into the alleyway behind the stadium. Lizzie stopped as soon as she got out of the stadium and fell back against the bricks. She heard the door open and close as someone walked out. She didn't open her eyes but knew that whoever had walked out was leaning against the wall next to her. "If I keep my eyes closed long enough, then do you think that I can start today over?" she asked, figuring that her uncle was the one next to her.

"Well, I don't think this morning has been all that bad," Will replied. "But based on your reaction to that phone call, then I can imagine why you would want the day to start over. What suddenly made your day so horrible?"

"Do you know of any good female drummers who are looking for a job?" Lizzie asked unexpectedly. "Because my drummer is getting married to the one man in this world who I would like to see hit by a bus."

"That's a little harsh," Will replied as Lizzie opened her eyes and looked at him.

"My best non-related friend is getting married," Lizzie stated as she blankly stared at her boots. "And I didn't say anything. I just destroyed a three-hundred dollar phone. Jane is going to kill me. I've officially lost the only slightly talented musician in my band. She's marrying the one man in the world that I can't stand. Did I mention that Jane is going to kill me for destroying that phone?"

"I am beginning to understand why you are not a morning person."

"Why?" Lizzie asked sarcastically. "Because when I'm up before ten o'clock, my world crashes down around my head periodically?"

"I think that about sums it up," Will replied. "Are you going to be okay?"

"I was serious about the whole drummer thing…"

Three days later Lizzie was taking Will back to the airport. It felt like something out of an old movie. He was driving. It was her car, but he'd insisted. It wasn't actually raining, just drizzling, but it made the world seem gloomy. Lizzie sat there staring out of the window, watching as the world past by. Charlotte was insistent on marrying Edward Collins and Lizzie had been unable to make her believe that she was making a mistake and the worst part was, Lizzie had to go and suck up to some of the big wigs of her record label as soon as she'd seen Will off.

Will parked the car in the parking garage and both got out. Will popped the trunk and got his suit cases and then he and Lizzie walked into the airport. Will had a meeting with his own label as soon as he landed in New York and so he was already dressed in a suit. Lizzie was wearing a halter top yellow sundress with little blue and green flowers sprinkled all over it. The cut of the dress and her upswept hairdo made her look like some old film star. If only everything was in black and white, that would have really made it look like a movie from the 40's.

So, they stood there at the terminal gate waiting for Will's flight to start boarding. Lizzie sat quietly in one of the hard black chairs staring down at her high heeled sandals while tapping her fingers on the arm rest to some unknown beat. Jane had forced her to go and get her nails done and so Lizzie stared at her exposed toes wondering how she hadn't noticed that they were painting her toe nails pink. She really hated pink.

"First Class Boarding for Flight 456 to New York," someone called out over the P.A. system.

"That's your flight," Lizzie said as she stood up and smoothed her dress. "Listen Will, thanks for all of your help with this single and everything."

"I didn't mind," Will replied as he got to his feet as well. "So is your friend still planning on marrying that Collins guy?"

"Yeah," Lizzie sighed and tucked a stray curl behind her ear. "I don't think I'm going to be able to talk her out of this. I guess I'll just have to be her friend and see how things go from here."

"That's all you can do," Will assured her and ran a hand through his dark hair. "Well, I guess I better be going. See you around."

"Yeah, see ya," Lizzie replied and just as she was about to turn around and walk away, Will's arm shot out and circled her waist, pulling her close. Lizzie thought that he was going to kiss her and couldn't help but feel a little disappointed when he didn't. All he did was hold her close for a long moment, inhaling the scent of her hair. Lizzie had just wrapped her arms around his neck, awkwardly returning his embrace when Will broke away and, while blushing rather like a tomato, pretty much ran onto the plane.

Lizzie stood there for a few minutes after he had disappeared onto the plane and watched as people filed onto the plane. Suddenly the moment didn't seem so much like something out of an old movie. If it had been, she would have received one big kiss before he'd gotten on the plane. She didn't analyze her disappointment over not being kissed, because that would require analyzing her feelings for Will Darcy. But she was okay with her reality. For some reason, Will not kissing her was more romantic than a kiss would ever be, not that she was looking for romance or anything. As the flight attendant made the final boarding call, Lizzie walked away from the terminal and out of the airport. Then she looked at her watch and broke into a run, despite her stilettos. That lunch she was supposed to be at had started half an hour ago.

And so, two months later on a bright March afternoon, Lizzie found herself standing up in front of a large crowd of people in a pink organza bride's maid's dress giving a toast to the happiness of her best friend and new husband. You would think having formerly been a member of a band, Charlotte would be immune to the urges that cause brides to force their poor innocent bride's maids to wear ridiculous dresses and hideous shoes, but Lizzie and Jane were not that lucky. First of all, Lizzie hated the color pink, and second of all, she hated not being able to fit through doors easily because of the voluminous skirt of her dress. "To Charlotte and Edward," Lizzie finished finally. "I hope that all of your days are filled with happiness."

The wedding had gone surprisingly well; Edward assured them all that the thanks for that belonged to his esteemed employer, Mrs. Catherine de Bourgh. Lizzie, Jane, and Charlotte's younger sister Maria had been the bridesmaids. Charlotte had looked lovely in her white taffeta wedding gown. Taffeta had been Mrs. de Bourgh's choice, not Charlotte's. Charlotte had wanted satin. The gown had been stunning when Charlotte had slipped it on that morning. It had been lovely throughout the ceremony. It had been fine when she first arrived at the reception hall. But after countless hugs from family and friends, the car ride to the reception hall, and sitting down for two hours for the sit down dinner, the dress was horribly crushed.

The food from the reception had been edible; even though Lizzie could pronounce less than half the names of the things that she'd been served. But Lizzie had been very disappointed to learn that the cake had some strange raspberry filling. She was highly allergic to them and wouldn't be able to eat a single bite. She could have just eaten the frosting off Jane's piece, but the icing was raspberry flavored. Lizzie had never been so disappointed by a cake.

Lizzie quickly downed her champagne in one gulp and stepped off the small stage where the band was performing. That was her third glass of champagne in half an hour and the alcohol was just starting to cause the edges of her vision to be a little bit fuzzy. She would later assure herself that the alcohol was what caused her to trip and land right in Will Darcy's lap. Will also had consumed a little too much champagne and his arms instantly went around Lizzie, holding her in place.

After recording "Pride and Prejudice," Lizzie had decided that Will might not be as bad as she once imagined. He could be charming when he put his mind to it and Lizzie had to admit that they sounded good together. She hadn't seen him since she'd seen him off at the airport after they'd finished recording.

Will still wasn't sure what he was doing at the wedding. His aunt had some how secured his promise that he would attend in her place. She said that she had been feeling ill and couldn't possible make the journey to Longbourn. But Will had only been introduced to Charlotte once and didn't have any fond memories of Edward Collins. But Catherine de Bourgh was not a woman you just said no to, especially when she owned your record label as well as one of the most prestigious concert venues in the country. So, Will had been sitting there at a table entirely to close to the band downing champagne as fast as the waiters could refill his glass.

"Elizabeth!" Mrs. Bennet called loudly, causing Lizzie to wince. She'd been sitting there quite comfortably on Will's lap. His eyes had locked with hers and their lips had been slowly becoming dangerously close. Will almost cursed aloud when Lizzie's mother had shattered their moment.

Lizzie swiftly tried to stand up, only to be forced back down by Will's arms. "Let go," she hissed quietly and then broke away from him. "What is it Mom?"

"Well, I hope you are very happy with yourself, Lizzie," Mrs. Bennett said harshly. "Because there went the only man who will ever want to marry you."

"Mom, you've had too much to…"

"No Lizzie, you are going to listen to me this time," Mrs. Bennett retorted as she grabbed another glass of champagne off the tray of a waiter who was passing by. "You really need to give up this band and concentrate on settling down and getting married. You aren't getting any younger and men are going to get tired of waiting for you."

"Mom, I don't really care about getting married…" Lizzie began with her hands resting in fists on her slender hips.

"Well, you should care, Elizabeth…"

"Lizzie, may I have the honor of dancing with you?" Will interrupted. For some reason, watching Lizzie's normally straight posture crumble under her mother's tirade was painful to him. Lizzie had looked almost like a lost child as her mother yelled at her, and Will had the inexplicable urge to save her.

Lizzie smiled at him gratefully and took his hand in hers so that Will could lead her out onto the dance floor. "Thank you," Lizzie whispered gratefully as she wrapped her arms around his neck. As they'd walked out onto the dance floor, the band had started to play a slow song and Lizzie was more than willing to let Will lead her around the dance floor if it kept her from having to deal with her mother. "My mother isn't usually like that…"

"You don't have to explain anything to me," Will whispered into her ear. "Just dance."

"Why do I feel like I have to?"

"You don't," Will assured her. "Do you always talk while dancing?"

"When I feel the need to."

"You don't need to."

"Are you always so bossy?" Lizzie asked impatiently.

"I don't recall giving you an order," Will replied with a heavy sigh. "I just told you that you didn't have to do something."

"Just forget it," Lizzie groaned as she pushed away from him and almost stalked off the dance floor. "Will, maybe this is the five glasses of champagne talking, but you need to learn to accept people as they are and not judge them based off of your standards of perfection. You don't say a word, but the way you look at people says volumes. You have so much pride…"

"I'm judgmental?" Will asked incredulously. "You should listen to yourself. You hardly know me and yet here you are making all these accusations. You're so blinded by your own prejudice…"

Lizzie didn't stay to hear the rest of what he had to say. She ran out of the building into the cold night air. She wrapped her arms around herself and looked around the parking lot. In the darkness she could just make out a ball of pink organza sitting on the low rock wall that surrounded the property. Lizzie instantly recognized Jane and made her way over to her sister.

"Have I told you just how much I hate weddings?" Jane asked as Lizzie took a seat next to Jane on the wall. Jane sat there with an empty champagne glass in hand and a nearly empty bottle sitting between the two of them. "Because I really do hate them." Jane had slipped out of the reception long before Lizzie had given her toast. She hadn't wanted to stick around and here everyone talking about how happy Charlotte looked and gamble on how long the marriage would last. She couldn't look at all of the people without thinking of Charlie and how at Christmas, she'd thought that she'd be the one getting married in a few months.

"Janie, what's wrong?" Lizzie inquired with a puzzled frown. Jane hardly ever complained about anything.

"I've just officially been a bride's maid three times and you know the old saying 'always a bride's maid never a bride," Jane replied, her words tinged with a drunken slur. "I'm never going to get married. I keep thinking that I've finally found 'the one' but then I just get left alone in the end. What makes me so disposable, Lizzie? What's wrong with me?"

"Oh Jane," Lizzie sighed and wrapped her arms around her sister. "You're not disposable at all. I don't know what I'd do with you."

"I'm not talking about you, Lizzie," Jane explained as tears started to roll down her cheeks. "I thought that Charlie was my 'one.' I thought that he really loved me, because I was so head over heels in love with him I couldn't see straight. But then he just left. He hasn't called, emailed, faxed, nothing!"

"Jane, would you like to take a vacation?" Lizzie asked unexpectedly.

"Where did that come from?" Jane replied as she wiped the tears from her cheeks. "Is my makeup smeared?"

"You look fine," Lizzie assured her. "But as I was saying, Uncle Jake was telling me how Aunt Margaret is going to New York for a few weeks to do some shopping and I was just thinking that a nice long shopping trip is just what you need."

"Maybe you're right, Lizzie," Jane sighed and stared down at her empty champagne glass. "I certainly don't need anymore champagne." Lizzie chuckled and scooted back a little further onto the wall. "By the way, what caused you to come running out of the building?"

"We're not going to talk about that," Lizzie said decisively.

"Oh, come on Lizzie," Jane sighed. "I just spilled my guts. Now it's your turn."

"I've had more alcohol in the last three hours than I've had in two years," Lizzie replied with a shrug. "Does that count?"

"I know you're not happy over that, but you ran out of the hall as if demons were chasing you," Jane said impatiently and started drumming her fingers on the stone. "Now, come on and spill the beans."

"I'll go back in, retrieve our purses, and call a cab," Lizzie said as she slipped down off the wall and smoothed her dress. "And I'll take the champagne back to the bar where it belongs. How did you get it anyway?"

"You're right Lizzie," Jane replied with a smirk. "We'll just talk when we get home." Lizzie stared at her sister incredulously for a moment and then turned to walk back into the hall, shaking her head as she went, her shoes crunching against the gravel.

A/N: I just want to thank everyone who reviewed the last chapter. Ya'll are totally amazing. Now, let's see if I can get fifteen reviews before I post the next chapter. Oh, and sorry that this chapter is kind of short as compared to the others. We're rearranging our house and my dad is going to take the computer apart so that he can move the desk, so I may not be able to write for a while.


	6. On to Rosings Park

A/N: So, I was kind of disappointed by the lack of reviews for the last chapter, but I decided to update anyway because I still got a bunch of hits. Just remember this equation (new chapter + reviews) x (good mood + creative bursts) another new chapter. Wow, that was a kind of long equation. But, I think ya'll got the message. And in my opinion this isn't one of my best chapters, but I wanted to get something posted. I might rewrite it later, but I really want to jut get past this and continue on with the story. So, on with the new chapter….

"Hey Janie!" Lizzie said happily into the phone pressed to her ear as she climbed the steps to her apartment. She flipped through the mail she had just collected from their mailbox as she climbed the steps too at a time. "How's New York?"

"I wish that you were here with me," Jane replied with a sigh. "I'm afraid that our aunt is a little exhausting. We've been into seven stores already today and it's barely two o'clock."

"It's only noon here," Lizzie remarked as her gaze stopped on a thick envelop with her name written in fancy script. She quickly checked for a return address, but there wasn't one anywhere on the envelope. She reached her floor and made her way into her apartment, sliding a fingernail underneath the flap to open the envelope. "Hay Jane, you didn't schedule anything for me, did you?"

"No Lizzie," Jane smiled. "I distinctly remember you telling me that you were going on sabbatical for the next month or two and refused to make any public appearances."

"Then why am I expected at Rosings Park in two weeks?"

"You were invited to Rosings Park?" Jane squealed excitedly as she almost dropped her phone. "Lizzie, do you have any idea what an honor that is?"

"Don't they have some big music festival there every year?" Lizzie asked distractedly as she skimmed over the contents of the letter. Apparently she had been invited to go and play an acoustic performance at Rosings Park without her band or any publicity people. Part of the rules was that she went alone.

"Lizzie, this is a big deal," Jane informed her sister impatiently. "Only the best and the brightest of the break through artists are invited to perform at Rosings Park for the Spring Music Festival."

"I think I'll turn them down," Lizzie said as she tossed the letter and the rest of the mail on the kitchen counter and made her way to the refrigerator.

"You won't do any such thing!" Jane screeched into her phone. "Lizzie this is a huge opportunity for you. This could be your chance to make a break as a solo artist."

"Are you suggesting that I abandon our dear sisters?"

"All I'm saying is that ya'll aren't much without a drummer and Lydia and Kitty can't keep a beat to save their lives," Jane replied.

"Jane!" Lizzie exclaimed.

"What?"

"I've never heard you say anything bad about anyone," Lizzie said incredulously. "Who are you and what have you done with my sister?"

"Lizzie, you are going to Rosings Park."

"That would totally ruin my sabbatical," Lizzie remarked as she grabbed a carton of takeout from the refrigerator and popped it in the microwave.

"You're going if I have to drag you there."

"Love you too Janie," Lizzie smiled as she hopped up onto the counter to sit and wait as her lunch heated up.

"Bye Lizzie," Jane sighed. "You're going to Rosings Park."

"Fine Jane," Lizzie groaned. "Bye."

The next day Lizzie found herself shopping in a local mall looking for some things to wear while at Rosings Park. She'd called Charlotte after hanging up with Jane and asked about what exactly to expect. Charlotte had told her about how Mrs. de Bourgh insisted on dressing up for dinner and things of that nature, so Lizzie discovered that her spring/summer wardrobe was sadly lacking as far as dress clothes went. After spending most of her morning shopping, she finally made her way to the food court for the largest cheeseburger she could find.

"Lizzie Bennett?" a voice called out from across the food court. Lizzie instinctively pulled her ball cap a little lower on her face. She'd already signed a grand total of fifty three autographs and her hand was starting to cramp. She really didn't want to get mobbed by fans while waiting in line at Hamburger Heaven. She visibly sighed with relief when she saw the man coming towards her through the crowd.

"Jack Wickham, fancy meeting you here," Lizzie replied with a pleasant smile. "How have you been?"

"Great, and you?"

"I was invited to go and play at the Rosings Park in a few weeks," Lizzie replied. "This was supposed to be my vacation, but Jane, my sister, insists that I go. So, here I am, doing some almost last minute shopping."

"Sounds like fun," he replied as he and Lizzie walked away from the line and wandered to a table to sit down.

"So, how is your mom?" Lizzie asked as she took a seat.

"My mom?" he asked with a puzzled frown.

"You said that she was sick," Lizzie reminded him slowly, a frown creasing her forehead. "Is she any better?"

"Oh, yeah," he covered quickly. "She's doing great now.

"I really have a lot to do today," Lizzie commented as she looked down at her watch. "I'm going to be late for my hair appointment if I don't hurry! Listen, I've got to go, but maybe we could get together for coffee or something later this week?"

"I wish I could," he said apologetically. "I'm catching a flight out to LA tonight for an audition with a band. I'm kind of out of a job right now since, well you know… But I'll be back in two weeks…"

"And I'll be leaving for Rosings Park," Lizzie informed him as she started to gather up her bags. "I guess we'll just have to wait until we run into one another again."

"So, I'll see you around?"

"Yeah," Lizzie assured him as she started to walk away. "See ya around."

So, that was how two weeks later Lizzie found herself stepping out of a cab and onto the driveway of the home of her arch enemy and her best non-related friend. It looked like something out of a cheesy post card for some colonial tourist trap. The yellow paint was a few shades too bright to be considered a sunny yellow. Instead it was rather ostentatious. It almost reminded Lizzie of the lines on the road in front of the house. There were a few too many trees crowded around the driveway and Lizzie was glad that she didn't have a car to park under them. She could only imagine the tree sap that would cover any car that had been parked there too long. All in all, the house was very much like its owner, Edward Collins, in the fact that it was completely overdone.

Suddenly the front door burst open and Charlotte ran out. "Lizzie!" she cried excitedly as she ran to her friend and threw her arms around her. "You have no idea how glad I am to see you!"

"Charlotte?" Lizzie asked incredulously after hugging her friend. She reached out a hand to touch her friend's newly dyed brown hair. "What happened? I loved your red hair."

"Mrs. de Bourgh didn't," Charlotte sighed as the two linked arms and made their way up the crushed gravel driveway. "She thinks that a house wife such as myself should be demure in every manner, especially when it comes to hair color."

"Oh Charlotte," Lizzie shook her head as the two walked through the front door and into the hall. The floors were shiny hard wood and Lizzie could see herself in them. The walls were a shade of blue that was a little too bright to be considered pale. Later she would reflect on the fact that in all of the rooms of the house, the colors were a little too close to being primary than she personally would have chosen.

"This is your room," Charlotte said as thy approached a white door. Charlotte twisted the knob and carefully pushed the door open. It was definitely the most attractive room in the house with its pale lavender walls and dazzlingly white curtains. "I decorated this room without any input from Mrs. de Bourgh or my husband."

"It's beautiful," Lizzie smiled at her friend and walked into the room to sink down onto the bed. She laid on it sideways and closed her eyes. "Oh, I could sleep for a week," she sighed sleepily.

"I'm afraid you can't even sleep for an hour," Charlotte replied with a little laugh. "We're expected at Mrs. de Bourgh's house in less than an hour. She's invited you specifically and will get really angry if you don't show up." Lizzie groaned and rolled over onto her stomach. "Come on, Lizzie" Charlotte prodded, poking Lizzie's side where Charlotte knew Lizzie was most ticklish.

"But, what should I wear?"

"Just wear what you've got on," Charlotte told her. "Mrs. de Bourgh will understand that you just got off the plane and didn't really have time to change."

Suddenly Edward appeared in the doorway. "She can't wear that!" he exclaimed. "She looks like a bum off the street! She must change! And you too Charlotte! But hurry, we've only got five minutes before we have to leave!"

In exactly five minutes' time, Lizzie walked down the stairs to meet Charlotte by the door. Her hair was hanging loosely down her back and she'd actually done her makeup for once. Instead of the baggy jeans and sweatshirt she'd arrived in, she wore a simple floral skirt that probably belonged to Jane, a green tank top, a jean jacket, and her favorite pair of flip flops.

"There, you both look much better!" Edward said happily. "But Lizzie do you have to wear those flip…" He was silenced by Lizzie's death glare and quickly turned to lead them out of the house.

"Nice car," Lizzie said with surprise as she stepped out into the late afternoon sunshine. The shiny BMW screamed money. Lizzie was surprised that Edward could afford something that nice.

"It belongs to Mrs. de Bourgh," Edward explained. "When we go and dine at her house she always sends a car for us."

That explains it, Lizzie thought to herself before letting the driver open the back door so that she and Charlotte could climb in. Edward sat up front. She said very little on the drive to Rosings Park. She was more interested in watching people set up for the music festival along the streets. There were signs everywhere. She could hardly contain her shock when she saw her own name in big letters on one sign. She knew that she had fans, people did show up at her concerts after all, but seeing her name in big print was still surprising. She was broken out of her reverie when the car came to a halt in front of a plantation style house.

The house almost looked like something out of a magazine, one of those magazines filled with ostentatious houses that looked like no one in their right minds would ever live in them. Even the shrubs outside looked fake. Lizzie might have admired the house if it was actually a real old plantation house, but with the vinyl siding and the fact that this was New York State, not Virginia; this was obviously only a very unauthentic representation of the beautiful houses that grace the rural areas of the South.

"Hey Charlotte, where's the bathroom?" Lizzie asked as they were ushered inside.

"Can't you wait until after you've met…" Edward was silenced with a glare.

"It's just down the hall, Lizzie," Charlotte pointed in the proper direction. "It's the last door on your right."

Lizzie smiled appreciatively. "I'll only be a minute." She walked quickly down the hallway and grabbed the door knob for the bathroom, only to have it turn in her hand. She stumbled forward, right into the arms of the man who had just occupied the bathroom. Lizzie looked up into his face and knew that he looked familiar. (Ya'll thought it was Will didn't you?) "Do I know you?" she asked with a puzzled frown.

"What a blow to my ego," the man staggered backwards further into the bathroom and clutched his chest. "Here I am thinking that almost everyone knows my name, and then some country singer just comes along and kills my pride."

"Should I know who you are?"

"Rick Fitzwilliam," he said, sticking out his hand for her to shake. "Drummer for the band Dissolving Prejudice."

"I knew that I knew you from somewhere!" Lizzie exclaimed as they made their way out of the bathroom and started walking along the hallway to the room where Mrs. de Bourgh was waiting for them.

"Well, I should hope so," Rick replied. "We did have Christmas dinner together after all."

Lizzie's eyes darted around the room that Rick had led her into. The house had gone from looking like a cheesy Southern plantation to a Victorian knockoff all through one doorway. All of the furniture was covered in ostentatious patterns that made Lizzie want to gag. The carpet was so thick that Lizzie couldn't have seen her feet if she had been looking down, but she wasn't looking down. Across the room from her was the one man who she might be happy if she never saw again in her life. Will Darcy was standing there by the bay window looking just a shocked as she was.

"So, you must be Elizabeth Bennett," a gravely called out from across the room.

"And you must be Mrs. de Bourgh," Lizzie replied pleasantly. "My cousin and his wife have spoken very highly of you, and please, let me thank you for letting me play at Rosings Park. It really is quite an honor."

Will stood in the corner of the room and watched as Lizzie and Rick so easily dominated the conversation. They were both so comfortable talking with people they hardly knew. He envied them, especially Rick. Will had only been able to make Lizzie laugh like that once, and that was when she saw his hair Christmas morning before he'd had a chance to comb it to its usual perfection. Rick Fitzwilliam had always had great people skills. That was one way he and Will were completely opposite. It only made Will jealous every now and then. But at that moment in time if his eyes weren't so blue, they would be glowing green with envy.

Several hours later, Lizzie sat there at the dining room table wondering how long one meal could possibly last. She'd been sitting there for what felt like days and had started only pushing her food around on her plate four courses ago. She was almost sure that she'd heard Mrs. de Bourgh say that there were twenty courses to the meal, but that was ridiculous and Lizzie was sure that she'd heard wrong.

"So, Miss Bennett," Mrs. de Bourgh called from the head of the table. "How exactly did you get involved in music?"

"My uncle," Lizzie replied, thankful for a reason to set her silverware down and stop pushing food around her plate so that it looked like she had eaten something. "He is a producer in Nashville and he got me in with the best voice coaches and guitar teachers there by the time I was seven."

"So, musical ability runs in your family?"

"Hardly," she responded. "My younger sisters aren't horrible, and my elder sister, Jane, has the voice of an angel, even if she refuses to sing in front of anyone but me. However, neither one of my parents has any musical ability at all." Lizzie could have said a great deal about her sisters' lack of talent and how her mother had threatened to stop paying for Lizzie's voice lessons and break every last one of her guitar strings if she didn't let them in her band. But it really didn't seem appropriate at the time, so she kept her mouth shut.

"My family seems to have a great deal of musical ability," Mrs. de Bourgh remarked. "Both of my nephews seem to be wonderful musicians. I, myself, could have been a wonderful vocalist if I had ever taken lessons. I don't think that anyone enjoys a good vocal performance more than I do, and I know that no one has better taste. My Anne could have been a wonderful singer as well, but her health has prevented her having proper lessons."

"I'm sure you both could have been wonderful," Lizzie commented, trying to contain her smile. Mrs. de Bourgh had a voice like gravel; it would take a miracle to make her able to sing. Lizzie couldn't be sure that the degraded quality of her voice was only because of age, but she couldn't be that old to have a twenty year old daughter. Most likely she'd never had a great voice to begin with.

Finally desert was served and after only pushing food around on her plate for over two hours, Lizzie suddenly found herself starving. She really should have known that an ostentatious dinner would be served to match the ostentatious house and grounds. But desert was the one thing she couldn't eat, sugared raspberries. All that Lizzie could do was stare at her plate glumly and wait for everyone else to finish.

"Are the raspberries not to your taste, Miss Bennett?" Mrs. de Bourgh asked her with a raised eyebrow as she lifted her spoon filled with raspberries to her mouth.

"It's not that I don't like them…"

"In my day we always ate whatever dessert our hosts put in front of us without question."

"Believe me, if I could eat them…"

"I believe that Miss Bennett is allergic to strawberries, Aunt Catherine," Will interjected on Lizzie's behalf.

"Sometimes people fake food allergies so that they don't have to eat certain things that they dislike," Mrs. de Bourgh commented coolly, causing Lizzie to emit an exasperated sigh. If eating a raspberry did not require a trip to the hospital, Lizzie would gladly eat one right then and there to prove in fact that she was allergic and was not faking it. But, then she would have had to endure a lecture about how proper guests do not cause scenes at dinner parties by eating foods that they know they are allergic to until she lost consciousness.

By the time the evening was over, it was so late that Lizzie was hardly able to keep her eyes open, despite her two hour time advantage. "I completely insist that you all stay the night," Mrs. de Bourgh decided. "What kind of hostess would I be if I sent you away at this late hour?"

"A merciful one," Lizzie muttered under the cover of a yawn.

"What was that Miss Bennett?" Mrs. de Bourgh asked.

"I was just expressing my gratitude," Lizzie replied with a polite smile. "It really is very kind of you to open up your home to us."

"Well, then, Jenkins will show you up to your rooms," Mrs. de Bourgh said decidedly and Lizzie, Charlotte, and Edward were quickly ushered out of the room.


	7. Collide

Disclaimer: No, I do not own the song Collide. Somebody else owns it, I only borrowed it for the sake of this chapter. Yes, I am aware that Collide is not a country song, but it was kind of the inspiration for this chapter seeing as how I was listening to it over and over again while writing most of this chapter a well as the last one. Besides, it really just sets the tone that I wanted the end of this chapter to have. Oh, and I have a challenge for everyone who has this story on their favorites list. I want to know one thing you really like about it. And if anyone has any special requests as to what they would like to see happen in this story, I'd love to hear them and will try to incorporate them in later chapters. Okay, I'm done. On with the real reason why you clicked on this story.

Lizzie rolled over and stared at the clock on the bedside table. She was so tired, but her body just refused to fall asleep. Another loud growl from her stomach reminded her of why sleep was so cruelly evading her. She was still starving. She'd tried to go to sleep and forget about her hunger, but her stomach wasn't cooperating. "Screw this," she muttered and climbed out from beneath the blue paisley comforter and matching cotton sheets that covered her bed. She grabbed the silky white bathrobe from where it hung on a peg by the door to cover her silky blue pajama pants and white camisole and then quietly made her way down the stairs to go and find the kitchen.

She only got lost a grand total of three times before finally making it to her destination. The kitchen was probably, in Lizzie's opinion anyway, the only tastefully decorated room in the house with all the stainless steal appliances and the granite countertops. The room still screamed money, but it screamed 'classy money' not 'I'm so wealthy that I'm going to rub any one who walks into this room's face in it.' Maybe that was because Mrs. De Bourgh didn't care too much about the kitchen since her guests were not supposed to go traipsing about at three in the morning in search of a light night (or early morning) snack.

Lizzie immediately went for the freezer and could hardly contain her glee. Inside was a half gallon tub of her favorite ice cream, cookie dough fudge mint chip. Without making too much noise, she managed to find a bowl, an ice cream scoop, and a spoon and then took a seat at the kitchen island on one of the bar stools that were conveniently tucked underneath. Just as she was about to take the first delicious bite, someone else made their presence known. "You know that's Aunt Catherine's private stash, don't you?" Will asked as he walked into the room just as Lizzie put the spoon in her mouth. "First you refuse to eat her carefully planned desert, and then you get into her secret stash of ice cream. You, Elizabeth, are well on your way to making an enemy out of my dear old auntie."

"Do you have any idea what time it is?" Lizzie hissed softly. "Only crazy people are up at this hour!"

"What does that say about you?" Will asked as he got his own bowl and spoon and then fixed himself a bowl. He took a seat on the bar stool next to Lizzie's and then dug into his own bowl.

"Well, after being served a desert that could cause my throat to close up, I decided that your dear old auntie owed me one and figured she wouldn't mind if I just helped myself," Lizzie replied and then took another bite of her ice cream. "Besides, I was starving to death up there in that paisley covered room. I'm officially burning every bandana I can get my hands on to try to rid the world of that hideous design."

"So, I take it that you're not open to going on tour with Brad Paisley?"

Lizzie's only reply was another glare as she scooped up more ice cream on to her spoon. Unfortunately for her, her ice cream had started to melt and some dribbled out from the corner of her mouth. She was about to reach up her hand to wipe it away, but Will caught her hand in his and leaned over to kiss it away.

Will hadn't even meant to kiss her that once, but before either one of them knew it, one kiss lead to another and in about two minutes time, Lizzie's mind was so clouded over that she could hardly string to words together, let alone think rationally enough to realize that she should push him away. Will's hands started cupping her face and then traveled down to her hips and pulled her closer. Lizzie suddenly realized exactly what was going on when she felt herself being lifted off her own stool and transferred onto his lap. But it was at that moment that Will's lips left hers and started trailing kisses down her neck. It was when Will's hands came up to start pushing her robe from her shoulders that she was fully able to gain control of her senses.

Lizzie's eyes opened wide and then she pushed him away. She stood there a minute staring at him, trying to catch her breath, then turned around and ran out of the room, leaving a stunned Will in her wake. He watched as the last of her white robe disappeared into the hallway and then stared down at the counter in front of him. The ice cream had long since melted and he slowly got up and dumped to bowls contents down the sink and then rinsed them out. He grabbed the ice cream tub and stuck it back into the freezer and then made his way out of the kitchen himself.

Later that day, Lizzie was so thankful to be caught up in all that a music festival entailed. She hadn't had two minutes to really dwell on what had happened in the early hours of the morning. She didn't have to think of what a good kisser Will was. She didn't have to think about how close they'd been to letting things get too carried away. All she had to focus on was where he 'rented techies' were telling her to plug things in for her stage.

The Rosings Park Music Festival really exposed young musicians to how much work went into a concert being the scenes. The musicians participating were all required to help set up their own sound stage, which meant running cables plugging things into sound boards, you name it, Lizzie had done it in the last three hours. Her back muscles were screaming at her because of the hunched over position she'd been in for almost the entire time. Her faithful guitar was in its stand on the stage. Lizzie was longing to go and grab it, but Howie, the head techie, would kill her if she left those cables unconnected. So, she made sure to pay attention to what she was doing.

After fleeing Mrs. de Bourgh's house directly after breakfast, Lizzie had spent her entire day being patiently advised by Howie as to what needed to be done for her show the next day. Soon they would sit down and talk about the lighting and whether she wanted a real light show or not, what colors she wanted for what songs, etcetera. Lizzie liked showy light displays, just not for her own music. She didn't want visual effects to overpower her lyrics.

That night Lizzie sat there on her bed strumming random chords on her guitar, trying to turn all of her frustration over Will into a song, but it just wasn't coming. She had a few chords, but the lyrics just were coming. She was so tired, it was tempting to just to put the guitar down and fall asleep. Lizzie was just returning her guitar to its case when Charlotte burst into the room.

"Lizzie!" Charlotte all but screamed. "You have to see what's on the local news channel right now!" Charlotte grabbed her hand and pulled her off her bed and down the stairs into the living room. They arrived just in time for Lizzie to be struck with horror at the sight on the television screen. There was a picture of her and Will from the night before just as he was pulling her onto his lap!

"Rumors about Lizzie Bennett and Will Darcy have been circulating since Christmas when the two stayed at the same hotel," the announcer said just a one of the pictures of them kissing under the mistletoe at the hotel appeared on the screen. "Then, this morning an anonymous source dropped these pictures off at our studio." A picture of Will pushing her robe from her shoulders appeared on the screen. Lizzie sank down onto the nearest couch and buried her face in her hands. "It looks like things are getting hot and heavy between these two rising country stars. Both will be at Rosings Park for the next week performing in the Rosings Park Music Festival. I guess we will all have to see how this story unfolds."

As the announcer switched to another topic, the phone started to ring. Charlotte picked it up and then handed it to Lizzie. "Did you see it?" Will asked, clearly frowning even though Lizzie could only hear him.

"I saw it," she replied. "I guess all we can do is deny it. But I don't think it'll do much good. Those pictures were pretty incriminating. It's not like you and I would ever be a couple in a million years."

"Of course not," Will replied slowly. "Well, I was just wondering if you knew about it."

"Yeah," Lizzie said and rubbed her temples with her free hand. "Well, see you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow," he responded and then hung up the phone. After hanging up herself, Lizzie leaned back into the cushions of the couch and let the phone fall from her hand to land with a soft thud on the carpeted floor. If she wasn't wrong, her cell phone should be ringing like crazy with calls from her mother and sisters. Ten minutes of temporary insanity had the potential to ruin her whole career. Instead of being known for her inspiring lyrics or melodic voice, she'd been known for being caught making out with Will Darcy in Catherine de Bourgh's kitchen.

The next day did not get any better, Lizzie woke up to see what looked like a million reporters swarming the Collins's lawn trying to get pictures of her, hoping that she would be coming out soon. Lizzie groaned and then shut the curtains, hopefully none of them had been able to scale Edward's six foot privacy fence to get to the back yard and she'd be able to sneak out that way. She quickly dressed in a pair of jeans and tank top, and then pulled a sweatshirt on over her head. She stuck her outfit for her first concert of the day in a garment bag and then quickly grabbed her guitar and backpack with all of her make up and various other supplies inside before making her way down stairs.

"The back yard is clear," Charlotte informed Lizzie as she made her way into the kitchen and grabbed a mug out of the cabinet to pour herself a cup of coffee. "I'll give you a key to the back gate and then a car will be waiting for you along the curb."

"You're and angel, Charlotte," Lizzie said to her friend. "Have the phones been ringing off the hook?"

"Only since about six this morning," Charlotte replied as she flipped through the morning paper that was spread out on the kitchen island in front of her. "But, don't feel bad, I was already up. Edward felt the need to be up at four thirty this morning so that he could be at Rosings Park with plenty of time to spare. I wasn't allowed to stay in bed past five."

"I've got to get going!" Lizzie exclaimed when she caught sight of the clock on the microwave. "You're coming to my show, right?"

"I wouldn't miss it," Charlotte replied with a comforting smile.

Lizzie smiled back and then escaped through the sliding glass door that led to the back yard. The back yard was mercifully empty of reporters and Lizzie made it into the waiting car before too many reporters caught on and the driver sped away from Charlotte's house with a trail of reporters that seemed to be a mile long trailing along after them. Lizzie sighed and sank back against the cushioned back seat and closed her eyes, but her peace was disturbed by the ringing of her cell phone. She looked at it warily, but saw that Jane was the one calling and decided to answer. "Hello Jane," Lizzie sighed into the phone. "If you're going to lecture me, please don't. You can't say anything that I haven't already said to myself. Yes, what I did was stupid and careless. Yes, I'm very sorry. No, Will and I are not a couple or anything. I don't really know what we are."

"So, I don't have to lecture you about ruining your image with this or anything?" Jane asked somewhat sarcastically, which was surprising since most of the time Jane did not have a sarcastic bone in her body. "Lizzie, you and Will can't just dance around a relationship. You are both celebrities and you have no privacy. You can't do things half way. You have to be all in or all out. Your love-hate relationship with Will Darcy will always be newsworthy unless you completely stay away from each other or suddenly become a couple."

"I know, Jane," Lizzie replied and ran a hand over her eyes. "But, I don't think you have to worry about Will and I becoming a couple. I dislike him too much for that. He's got way too much pride for me."

"You have quite a bit of pride yourself, Lizzie," Jane reminded her sister affectionately. "Just, be carefully, okay?

"Yeah Jane," Lizzie answered. "I will. No more scandalous flings with Will Darcy for me. I promise." Lizzie and Jane said goodbye just as the car pulled up into the alley behind Lizzie's sound stage. "Thank you," Lizzie said to the driver before grabbing her garment bag, back pack, and guitar and climbing out of the car.

"No problem, Miss Bennett," the man replied. "I'll be back to pick you up after the concert."

"See ya then," Lizzie called over her shoulder as she almost skipped back stage so that she could start getting ready. She gave her guitar to one of the techies to go and put on stage for her and then went back to her makeshift dressing room so that she could start dressing for her show. She slipped into her custom made jeans and some designer top. People kept just sending her things since her first single reached the top of the music charts. She'd never really enjoyed shopping, but after the release of her band's first album, she'd hardly ever needed to. Designers were always sending her things to wear.

Makeup artist Mandi was suddenly fluttering around Lizzie, playing with her hair and putting all sorts of strange products on her face. Lizzie sighed as Mandi went to work and did her best to hold completely still, knowing that makeup artists tended to be temperamental, especially at large events because of the little time they head and the picky people they had to do makeup for. Lizzie always tried to be low maintenance when it came to her makeup and Mandi was obviously grateful for it. After dusting blush over Lizzie's cheeks, she scampered out of the room without a word, but Lizzie wasn't offended. She knew that the poor girl was expected to be in seven places at once that morning and had to be brusque.

"Hey Lizzie," Howie called as he stuck his head into the dressing room. "There are some reporters here who want to talk to you. They have clearance from Mrs. de Bourgh."

"I don't want to talk to them," Lizzie replied with a smirk.

"Sorry, beautiful," Howie said playfully. "But some times you've got to do what you've got to do. Besides, you were asking for it, getting caught making out with Will Darcy and all…"

Howie ducked as Lizzie threw a compact that Mandi had left on the table at his head and then chuckled as he shut the door behind him. Lizzie was certainly one of the feistier musicians that he'd worked with over the years.

……………………………..

"So, Miss Bennett, are you and Mr. Darcy officially a couple?" a reporter called out to Lizzie from the swarm of reporters around her. She had so many cameras in her face and flashes flashing that she couldn't see who exactly had asked her but turned her head in the direction that the voice had come from.

"Mr. Darcy and I are not dating or anything of that nature," Lizzie replied coolly and brushed a stray curl away from her face. "The other night was a one time occurrence and will not occur again."

"What about at Christmas at Netherfield Hotel?" another reporter called to her. "Pictures of the two of you have surfaced from there as well."

"Mr. Darcy and I were only following the age old tradition of kissing under the mistletoe," Lizzie responded as she put her hand up to her eyes to shield them from the blinding flashes of the cameras. "That was all."

"Five minutes until show time, Miss Bennett," a techie called over the din of the reporters."

"If you'll excuse me," Lizzie said graciously and started to slip away. "I have a show to do. I'll try to make time to answer more questions later in the week."

……………………………..

Lizzie never had to answer any more questions about her relationship with Will. By the end of the week because of all of the excitement of the music festival, they were old news and no one cared anymore. The music festival was almost over, just one day left, and Lizzie currently found herself were a gold silk evening gown sitting on the edge of a loveseat in the 'parlor' of Mrs. de Bourgh's house clutching her champagne flute so hard she was surprised that it hadn't shattered in her hand.

"Having fun yet?" Rick asked as he came and took a seat next to her.

"Loads," Lizzie replied sarcastically and downed the last of her champagne. "Are these parties always so unbearably boring?"

"Unfortunately, yes," Rick said and sank back against the pink brocade cushions of the loveseat. "And, Aunt Catherine's parties are always particularly boring."

"No wonder there's so much champagne being served," Lizzie mumbled and sank back against the cushions as well and let her eyes scan the room. She locked eyes with Will for a moment and then quickly looked away. "Your cousin is glaring at us," Lizzie whispered conspiratorially to Rick.

"He's probably envying my most desirable seat next to the most beautiful woman in the room," Rick replied as he grabbed another champagne flute for himself and then another for Lizzie off a passing waiter's tray. "You do look lovely this evening."

"Thanks," Lizzie replied. "Is Will always so distant?"

"You'd never guess, but he's a bit on the shy side," Rick informed her. "He's always been a very cautious person, especially when it comes to women. His first girlfriend screwed him over pretty badly, and ever sense, he's been pretty against emotional attachments. He told me not to long ago he managed to save our manager from a particularly dangerous relationship."

"Really?" Lizzie asked, suddenly intrigued.

"Yeah," Rick replied. "I never knew who the girl was, Charlie and I aren't all that close, but apparently she was staying at our hotel over Christmas. She had Charlie buying her jewelry, spend extravagant amounts on dinners, stuff like that. Will made him realize that the girl was just playing him and we got out of there pretty fast."

"I need some air," Lizzie said suddenly and almost ran to the opposite side of the room and out the French doors that led out to the wrap around porch. She stood there leaning against the railing for some time before she heard the doors open and close and heard footsteps coming up behind her.

"It's a shame that we can't see the moon tonight," Will commented as he came to stand beside her, leaning against the railing as well. "It's supposed to be full." He saw Lizzie shiver and immediately shrugged out of his suit jacket and slipped it over her shoulders. "Lizzie, can I talk to you about something?"

"What?" Lizzie asked coldly, not even turning to face him.

"Well, Lizzie… I love you," Will finally burst out. "I don't know how it happened. It just kind of snuck up on me. But the other night, in the kitchen, well, that was one of the best moments of my life. In spite of your annoying sisters, and the impropriety of all this, the difference in our stations in life, the scandal we almost caused, I love you."

"You love me?" Lizzie asked, turning to face him angrily. "You insult my family, insinuate that I am a second class citizen, and yet you love me?"

"Lizzie…"

"Save it, Will," Lizzie said angrily. "First of all, no one calls my sisters annoying except for me. Second of all, just because I have had to work for every penny in my bank account does not mean that I am worth any less than you are. You don't know the first thing about love. If you did, maybe you wouldn't have destroyed my sister's happiness! Jane never did anything to you, but you basically ruined her life!"

"I don't know what you're talking about…"

"Try telling Charlie that she was a gold digger and didn't really care about him, just what he could buy for her," Lizzie replied as a clap of thunder shook the porch and rain started to pour down. "Jane is the sweetest, most kind hearted person that I have ever met in my life. She didn't deserve what you did to her. She loved Charlie with all her heart and now she's still heartbroken."

"I will admit that I made a mistake with Jane, but that doesn't have anything to do with how I feel about you," Will tried again. "You and I just seem to collide and there's nothing we can do about it, Lizzie."

"What about George Wickham?" Lizzie asked, suddenly needing fuel to add to her anger towards Will. "How about what you did to him?"

"I do not have to defend my actions towards that man to anyone, least of all you," Will nearly roared as lightening flashed across the sky with a deafening sound as it struck a tree. "I was perfectly justified in kicking him out of my band and my actions require no explanations."

"Maybe because you know your reasons weren't good enough," Lizzie replied, putting her hands on her hips. "You have so much pride and are so quick to judge people! It's a wonder that you have any friends!" Will stepped back as if he had been struck and Lizzie lowered her eyes to the ground. "That was unkind," she said softly. "Will, you and I just won't work. We don't have a relationship; we just have a series of collisions when our paths cross. It doesn't matter that you haunt my thoughts or anything like that. We won't work. So, just leave me alone!" Lizzie ended and then slipped his jacket from her shoulders and fled from the porch and across the lawn, despite the pouring rain.

……………………………..

The next day was the last of the music festival and Lizzie was planning on catching the redeye home. She performed her final concert and then climbed into the back seat of the car waiting for her, thinking that it would take her back to Charlotte's house. She sank back against the seat cushions and didn't realize that they were going in the wrong direction for several minutes. "Where are we going?" Lizzie asked with a frown. "This isn't the way to Charlotte's house."

"I've been instructed not to tell you," the driver replied. "It is supposed to be some sort of surprise. I was however asked to give you this note." The driver took one hand off the wheel and passed Lizzie an envelop with her name written in a masculine scrawl across the front. She gently slid her fingernail under the flap and opened it, pulling out a sheet of notebook paper. It read:

_Dear Lizzie,_

_I know that you are angry with me right now, but I believe that I should be allowed to explain my actions in regards to your sister Jane, _as_ well as my behavior towards Jack Wickham. First of all, Charlie tends to think that he is in love a lot and it has always been my responsibility to look after him and not let him get taken advantage of. I wouldn't have interfered if I had known that Jane was in love with him too. I just never really saw it when they were together. _

_As far as Jack Wickham goes, I am more than justified in my reasons for kicking him out of the band. About a year ago, Rick and I went to write a check for a children's charity out of the band's joint bank account and it bounced. We asked Jack if he knew where the money went and he confessed that he'd needed it because of gambling debts. We agreed, against my better judgment, that he could have a second chance as long as he went to counseling for his gambling problems, which he did for several months. Then, the day we kicked him out of the band, one of his bookies showed up at the hotel and demanded his money right away. Rick and I had warned him that if he ever took money from us again, he would be out of the band. We only did what we had to do._

_Now that I have explained myself, I hope that you can forgive me and come to my concert. I was up all night writing this song that I would really like for you to hear. Please come._

_Sincerely,_

_Will Darcy_

Lizzie sighed as the car pulled to a stop by Will's sound stage and Lizzie climbed out, leaving her guitar and back pack behind. Rick was standing outside waiting for her and immediately grabbed her hand and pulled her back stage to stand with him in the wings. Lizzie stood there watching silently, her mouth tightly pressed closed. "I wrote this song late last night," Will began as he took a seat on a stool at center stage and settled his guitar on his lap. "It's for someone special and I hope that she's here to hear it." With that, Will began to play and sing.

_The dawn is breaking  
A light shining through  
You're barely waking  
And I'm tangled up in you  
Yeah_

Lizzie stood there watching, her eyes never leaving Will. She thought about that night at the hotel in Netherfield where she and Will had fallen asleep on his bed. She thought about waking up all tangled up in his arms and how right that had somehow managed to feel. Slowly she felt her tense muscles start to relax and her mouth was no longer in such a thin grim line. __

I'm open, you're closed  
Where I follow, you'll go  
I worry I won't see your face  
Light up again

Even the best fall down sometimes  
Even the wrong words seem to rhyme  
Out of the doubt that fills my mind  
I somehow find  
You and I collide

Rick watched Lizzie as she watched Will and couldn't help but smile a little to himself. When he'd first met Lizzie, he couldn't help but be a little interested in her, but his cousin had quickly staked his claim and Rick had backed off. Now, he was glad that he had because with the way Lizzie was looking at Will. The chemistry between them was undeniable and he was certain it was only a matter of time before they ended up together. __

I'm quiet you know  
You make a first impression  
I've found I'm scared to know I'm always on your mind  


Will wasn't sure if Lizzie was there or not. He knew that she was stubborn and if she had any idea that he was the one who wanted her there, but he still hoped. He knew that Lizzie was probably in the wings somewhere if she was there at all, but he kept his eyes on the audience in front of him. If she was there, he didn't want her to run if their eyes met or something.

_  
Even the best fall down sometimes  
Even the stars refuse to shine  
Out of the back you fall in time  
I somehow find  
You and I collide_

Don't stop here  
I lost my place  
I'm close behind

Lizzie's words from the night before haunted her in the song. _We just have a series of collisions._ He'd turned her words into a song, and then spun them in his favor. She smiled a little to herself. She'd have to remember to be careful about saying anything to poetic in front of Will Darcy. He was likely to turn her words into another song. That was why there were so many law suits between song writers, they were always accidentally, sometimes on purpose, ripping each other off. __

Even the best fall down sometimes  
Even the wrong words seem to rhyme  
Out of the doubt that fills your mind  
You finally find  
You and I collide

You finally find  
You and I collide  
You finally find  
You and I collide

Will strummed the final chords of the song and looked back into the wings, only seconds after Lizzie's retreat. She quietly slipped away, without Rick's notice, back outside and into her waiting cab. The driver had already been to Charlotte's and gotten all of her bags. He was taking her directly to the airport. If Lizzie left for the airport immediately without any distractions, she should get there about the same time as Jane for their flight back to Nashville. Lizzie glanced back at the open door to the sound stage and saw Will walk off stage. She thought that there eyes might have met for a moment, but the cab started to move and Lizzie drove off into the night.

Will practically ran off stage and immediately went to his cousin. "Was she here?" he asked impatiently. "Did she come after all?"

"Relax, Will," Rick laughed at his cousin's impatience. "She was here. She must have left when I wasn't paying attention, but she did see the whole thing."

"Did she say anything?"

"She was gone before I had the chance to ask her what she thought of it," Rick replied and raked a hand through his hair. "Will, if you ask me, I say that you should just give her a little space. Give her time to process everything…"

"I wasn't asking you," Will snapped and ran his fingers through his own hair. "You think she needs space?"

"Well, yeah," Rick answered with a shrug of his shoulders. "You sprung a lot on her this week. First, the two of you get caught making out in our aunt's kitchen, then you tell her you love her, then she finds out that Wickham, the one who she thought was the good guy, is really only a sleaze ball. That's a lot in a weeks' time."

"I guess you're right," Will sighed and handed his guitar to the nearest techie. "But what if I never see her again?"

"You're both musicians," Rick scoffed. "There's no chance that you won't see her ever again. You're both bound to be at some function or another in the near future."

Will nodded and looked out the open door that led outside just in time to see Lizzie climb into her cab. She turned to look back and their eyes locked for a moment and then her cab started to pull away. Will fought the desperate urge to run after her and watched as she disappeared into the night.


	8. There's a Wall

Disclaimer: I still do not own Pride and Prejudice. Sorry that this chapter took me so long to write, but I wanted Lizzie to write a song for Will and I just couldn't find the perfect one. But I finally found it the other day. Which brings me to what else I don't own, I also don't own the song "There's a Wall". Miranda Lambert owns it. And I'm sorry that this chapter is a little shorter than the others. I just wanted to get something posted for ya'll. I had like another page, but it'll fit better with the next chapter. So, ya'll just have to wait until then, but I have posted a little sneak peak of the next chapter at the end of this one.

Lizzie yawned sleepily and rubbed her eyes. The captain had just announced over the intercom that the plane was landing; his gravely voice rousing Lizzie from the light sleep she had fallen into almost immediately after boarding the plane. She was almost positive her cheek was red from where it had been pressed into the glass of the window. She stretched lazily like a cat, rousing Jane from her position of slumber, her cheek leaning against Lizzie's shoulder.

"Janie, we're landing," Lizzie said sleepily as she attempted to buckle her seatbelt. She frowned down at the small buckle when the two pieces wouldn't meet properly and angrily shoved the two together. Jane stretched as well and then fastened Lizzie's seatbelt for her before fastening her own. In about half an hour they were walking into the airport with their carry on bags deciding whether they wanted to eat and then go home and sleep or sleep and eat when they woke up if there was any food in their apartment. Lizzie was just about to open her mouth to speak when someone called out her name over the din of the airport.

"LIZZIE!!" Lydia called out excitedly, instantly causing Lizzie to groan inwardly. "JANE!!" In about two seconds flat Lydia and Kitty were swarming around Lizzie and Jane, alternating between hugging them and talking rapidly. "We have reservations for two o'clock at that new Italian restaurant that every one is dying to get in to. We just mentioned your name Lizzie and they were more than willing to give us a reservation. Everyone's been talking about you and Will Darcy for the last few days. Did he come with you? Are you going to see him again any time soon? Everyone says that song he wrote at Rosings Park was for you. Is that true?"

"I wish someone would write a song for me!" Kitty whined and childishly crossed her arms over her chest. Lydia was still babbling a mile a minute when Lizzie and Jane finally managed to collect all of their luggage and get outside of the airport. "Oh, I hope you don't mind that I rented a limo for the four of us," Lydia remarked off-handedly. "It would have been too cramped in a car with all of your luggage and stuff. I put it on your card Jane…"

"Lydia!" Lizzie exclaimed. Jane's eyes were as wide as saucers at Lydia's news. "You should have asked before charging something to Jane's card. How much was it?"

"I really don't think that it should matter," Lydia began with a pout. Lydia pouted almost anytime that she didn't get her way. She spent so much money on clothes and makeup so that she looked older that her eighteen years, but her facial expressions made her look like a child. Lydia dressed up every day like she was about to perform on stage. She put on so much sparkly clothing, jewelry, and makeup that it made her look like a shimmering blur. She thought it made her look like a star and Lizzie couldn't help but agree. But she didn't look like a movie star or a singing star, she looked like one to put on top of your Christmas tree, or like one in an elementary school Christmas pageant over the nativity scene. "You're a big celebrity now, Lizzie…"

"It's okay," Jane said softly. "It doesn't really matter…"

"Jane…"

"No, Lizzie, don't say anything else about it," Jane said softly into her ear. "Let's just get through lunch and then we can go home and sleep."

"Oh, and you'll never guess who we've invited to meet us there!" Lydia cried after realizing her sisters were no longer paying any attention to her constant chatter. "George Wickham! He is really anxious to see you Lizzie…"

An hour later, Lizzie sat rather unhappily in her chair swirling her water around in the fancy stemmed glass it had been served in. The restaurant had been everything the food critics had made it out to be, but Lizzie was battling a terrible headache and a need to strangle her youngest sister. Why had she never noticed what an obnoxious flatterer George Wickham was? He'd spent his time either being over-attentive towards Lizzie or bantering obnoxiously with Lydia and Kitty. Maybe Lizzie had such a dismal outlook because of the headache and the fact that she hadn't really slept in over twenty-four hours, but she didn't think that was it. And to top it all off, Lydia had just declined desert, saying that Lizzie had to watch her weight, seeing as how 'she's a big celebrity and all.'

Jane looked over at her sister and saw the little frown that creased Lizzie's forehead. Lizzie always frowned like that when she had a headache. Jane reached into her purse and grabbed the packet of Tylenol that she'd gotten out of a machine in the bathroom at the airport. She tucked it under her hand and slid it across the table to Lizzie as discreetly as possible. Lizzie saw her sister's movements and was ready and waiting to receive the needed drugs and smiled gratefully at her sister as she tore the package open and popped the pills into her mouth.

"Can we go now?" she asked impatiently and set her glass back down on the table with a little too much force causing water to splash over the edge. She looked at her wet hand and sighed heavily. She really wanted to go back to her apartment and sleep. She felt horrible underdressed in her jean miniskirt and light yellow tank top with the matching flip flops. This restaurant was more for someone in an evening gown, not someone who'd just stepped off plane after a four hour flight. Jane looked a little more presentable with her floral skirt that went down a little past her knees and her jean jacket that covered her bare shoulders. But Lizzie felt that their whole table stuck out like a sore thumb in the midst of all of the beautifully dressed people around them.

"Lizzie's getting crabby," Lydia stage-whispered to George. "She's always crabby after flying."

"I am not always crabby after flying," Lizzie replied with a scowl. "I'm crabby when little sisters make reservations at expensive restaurants and then expect me to pay."

"I told you she was crabby," Lydia giggled and they all stood up to walk out of the restaurant. Lizzie picked up her check card from where the waiter had left it on the edge of the table and slipped it back into her wallet. The check from Rosings Park should be deposited into her bank account in a few days, so at least she wouldn't be bouncing any checks. Almost all of the money she'd made through the band had gone directly into her savings account that her father wouldn't let her touch. It was his way of keeping her from becoming your typical drug crazed rock star. Although it sometimes left Lizzie a little short on cash, she admired her father for his dedication to her career and her future.

"Oh, George," Lydia crooned as they stood up from the table. "You just have to come back to the apartment with us! We can invite a few more friends over and have a party…"

"NO!" Lizzie exclaimed emphatically. "Lydia, Jane and I are tired. We've had a long flight and all I want to do is go home and sleep. And you are not throwing some wild party in MY apartment that I pay for and you don't."

"Jane pays for it to," Lydia replied, sticking her tongue out childishly.

"I really don't want to through a party either, Lydia," Jane said with a sigh. "I'm with Lizzie on the whole going home and sleeping thing."

"You two never let me have any fun," Lydia pouted and stormed out of the restaurant after grabbing George's arm with Kitty on their heels. Jane and Lizzie simply shook their heads and made their way out the restaurant as well, almost leaning on each other for support so that they could make it to the limo awake.

A few hours later, Lizzie was glad to finally be back in her room. Her suitcase was on the floor next to her bed and she knew that she should be unpacking, but instead she was propped up against her headboard absentmindedly strumming chords on her guitar. Part of her wished that she'd stuck around to talk to Will after his performance. She really had loved his song. She should have told him that. But she'd been too stubborn. After reading his letter, she wasn't quite as angry with him, but her pride had been wounded and she hadn't been ready to admit that.

But now, she felt like she had something to say, but there was no real way to put it into a conversation. Sometimes it felt like there was a wall between the two of them that she could never take down. It had been there ever since that night at the party when Will had said that he had wanted nothing to do with her. He might have told her that he loved her that night at Rosings Park, but that didn't mean that he was ready for a relationship. Suddenly Lizzie had the perfect idea. She pulled out her song notebook out from underneath her bed and flipped it open to the first blank page. She grabbed a pencil out of the drawer of her bedside table and wrote the title of the song at the top of the page, "There's a Wall".

………………………………………..

Will climbed into his red Mustang convertible and put the key into the ignition. He'd had his driver pull the car up in front of the house about ten minutes ago, but had decided to drive himself around for the day. It was a perfect spring day in Memphis with the light breeze sending the scent of magnolia blossoms wafting in the air. Will was glad to finally be able to leave a jacket behind as he had dressed that morning in his favorite pair of jeans and a white polo shirt. As the car started up, his radio came to life as well. What he heard made him freeze. "And next up we have the latest song from Lizzie Bennett, "There's a Wall." This could be the start of a very promising solo career for Miss Bennett seeing as how this song has gone straight to the top of the charts. So, without further ado, "There's a Wall."

Will immediately reached over and turned the volume up as Lizzie's sweet voice filled the car. He immediately knew that the song was about him. It was just one of those things you just knew. She'd written a song about him. The thought made Will grin a rather goofy grin. That meant that she cared enough about him to give him a little piece of herself.

_I'd run away but I can't escape the power of your pride  
Your eyes are cold like an empty soul and I'm burning up inside  
There's nothing wrong with letting go and you're still diggin' in  
We're racing to the bottom and I' can't find the end _

And there's a wall  
Standing here between us  
And that's all that's keeping you from freedom  
And I keep pushing harder and you keep getting stronger  
You won't break cause you're afraid you'll fall  
And there a wall 

Lizzie sat back in her desk chair and listened to the song once again. She'd really gone out on a limb with that song. Sure it had been worth it in profits. Within a week the song had gone to the top of the download charts. That had been pretty exciting for her. Sure, she'd had to deal with three very angry sisters, but she'd needed this song to be her own, hers and no one else's. She'd performed the song acoustically. She hadn't wanted to take the time for anyone else to learn to play it. She'd just wanted to get it on the radio as fast as possible. It was her way of letting Will know how she felt about everything. Maybe it had been foolish, but she'd done it and there was no going back.

_You love me when you want to and you find reasons to fight  
Another lame excuse to keep the devil on you side  
Trying hard to hide those scares that I've already seen  
Your beat up heart's not the only thing that's keeping you from me _

And there's a wall  
Standing here between us  
And that's all that's keeping you from freedom  
And I keep pushing harder and you keep getting stronger  
You won't break cause you're afraid you'll fall  
And there a wall 

Will frowned as the song continued to play. How was it possible that a woman who he had known for a handful of weeks to be able to read him like a book? It was like Lizzie had been able to read his mind. He thought back on when they'd first met at that disastrous party where he'd once again put his foot in his mouth regarding Lizzie Bennett. He'd never forget the look on her face when he had said that he didn't want anything to do with her. Nothing could have been farther from the truth. He'd somehow managed to fall in love with her that first night in the hotel bar when she'd chewed him out over assuming that she was drunk.

_Pain has made you weak and hard  
I will never be as strong, _

As strong...  
As this wall  
Standing here between us  
And that's all that's keeping you from freedom  
And I keep pushing harder and you keep getting stronger  
You won't break cause you're afraid you'll fall  
With this wall 

Will sat in his car not moving long after the song had stopped. Did Lizzie really think that 'they' were an impossible idea; that they could never be together? For the first time in his life, Will Darcy could see all of the flaws in his character. He could see how prideful he was. He could see how condescending he tended to be if he thought someone was beneath him. It was hard to accept that that was what Lizzie saw in him. How could one woman learn all of his flaws so completely? There were so many unanswered questions.

"Are you alright, sir?" one of the maids asked as she stepped outside.

"Yes, I'm fine," he replied and then shifted the car into gear and took off. He looked at the clock on the dash board and realized that he was already late for his appointment at the studio with his band and sped up a little, sending gravel flying.

_Sneak Peak:_

_Lydia wants to go to New York?" Lizzie asked Jane incredulously. _

"_She has an invitation to go and be on some talk show," Jane explained. "They're providing her airfare and putting her up in a hotel. She will have a car to take her to and from the TV studio, no where else." _

"_Janie, she's only eighteen!" Lizzie exclaimed. "There is nothing in New York that is safe for a single eighteen year old girl." Lizzie stared at her sister incredulously. Lydia was too young to go off to New York on her own and Lizzie could not believe that her sister was even considering it. _


	9. Pemberly Part 1

A/N: I just want to make one thing clear before starting this chapter. Pemberly in this story is the equivalent of Graceland and Jack Darby is the equivalent of Elvis. Also, Lizzie does not know that Will owns Pemberly. Oh, and I'm sorry about the delay for this chapter. I've been working on some other projects and haven't really had time to work on this one. But I am like really super sorry. There shouldn't be so much of a wait for the next chapter. Oh, and one more thing, I don't own the song "There's Us" that I'm using in this chapter and the next either.

A few weeks went by with relative peace for the Bennett sisters. Lydia unfortunately was becoming closer and closer to George Wickham and the more Lizzie tried to warn her sister about his true character, the more it seemed that Lydia wanted to be around him. Mary had gone back to college and so the piano in the apartment remained mercifully silent in the early hours of the morning when Mary liked to practice the most. Kitty was back at home visiting their parents and so Lizzie thought everything would be calm for a while. Then one day Jane came to Lizzie with some startling news.

"Lydia wants to go to New York?" Lizzie asked Jane incredulously.

"She has an invitation to go and be on some talk show," Jane explained. "They're providing her airfare and putting her up in a hotel. She will have a car to take her to and from the TV studio, nowhere else."

"Janie, she's only eighteen!" Lizzie exclaimed. "There is nothing in New York that is safe for a single eighteen year old girl." Lizzie stared at her sister incredulously. Lydia was too young to go off to New York on her own.

"You came here when you were only seventeen," Jane reminded Lizzie patiently. She thought that sending Lydia to New York was a good idea. It would give them some peace for at least a week and Jane desperately needed a break. Mary and Kitty had both gone back to college for the spring semester. Lydia was the one haunting their apartment never giving Jane and Lizzie a moment's peace. Jane loved her youngest sister, but when she thought of Lydia going to New York, she thought of a week where she could go to the spa for a day or two. She could go shopping and pick out clothes for herself, not have Lydia picking out clothes for her. Jane loved her little sister, but she desperately needed some alone time.

"I was way more mature at seventeen than Lydia is now," Lizzie replied stubbornly and crossed her arms over her chest. Jane looked at her sister and smiled. Lizzie might seem older than Lydia most of the time, but with no makeup, her dark hair in a pony tail, baggy jeans and a t-shirt with their high school name on it, she could have passed for seventeen.

"Lizzie, we aren't going to get any peace until we let her go," Jane said softly to Lizzie so that their sisters, who were squabbling in the living room, couldn't hear. "And Mom and Dad already gave their permission."

"Fine," Lizzie sighed tiredly. Lydia was spending too much time with George Wickham anyway. Sending her to New York for a week or two would be a good chance to split them up. Although their band had not made a ton of money, Lydia still had a rather impressive bank account for a girl who seemed to spend every dime she got on clothes and makeup. She was a target for a man like him and Lizzie wanted to keep them apart at all costs.

Lydia apparently heard Lizzie's response and was instantly jumping around screaming. Lizzie looked at Jane for a long moment, mentally willing her to change her mind. She wanted to tell Jane everything she knew about Wickham, but she couldn't do that without talking about Will's disastrous proposal and what she'd learned about why Charlie left. Lizzie didn't want to hurt Jane by telling her that Charlie probably thought that she was a gold digger or something, so she kept her mouth shut. She gave Jane one last slightly disapproving look and then sauntered back to her bedroom. She was working on another new song and it was demanding her attention.

…………………………

Lizzie sat back against her headboard on her bed with her eyes closed, her foot unconsciously tapping along to the beat of the music. She'd never admit that she had downloaded the song Will wrote for her at Rosings Park and that it was now the most listened to song on her iPod, but there were a lot of things that she wouldn't admit to. Another thing that she would never admit to was that she thought that Will Darcy had a great voice. His voice just had a really great tone to it or something. She'd just listened to the song for the seventh time in a row when Jane walked into her room.

"Lizzie, Uncle Jake is on the phone," Jane informed her as she walked into the room and handed Lizzie the cordless phone. Lizzie sighed a little and put the song on pause before taking her ear buds out of her ears.

"Hey Uncle Jake," Lizzie said after smiling gratefully at her sister. Jane smiled back and slipped out of the room.

"How's my favorite recording artist?" Jake asked her as he picked up his four year old daughter off the kitchen counter and set her on the floor. His wife, Sarah, had left him alone for the weekend with all of the kids and they were running around the house like a bunch of little savages.

"Just your favorite recording artist?" Lizzie pretended to pout. "Aren't I your favorite niece too?"

"Sorry, Jane took that place in my heart when she agreed to come over here and help me out with the kids until your aunt gets back," Jake replied as he grabbed a pair of scissors from his youngest son's hands. "But you are my second favorite."

"Good to know," Lizzie said with a laugh.

"Now, about why I called," Jake said seriously as the kids took their antics into the living room, giving him a chance to think above all of their noise. "I think that you need a sabbatical."

"I don't know, Uncle Jake," Lizzie replied hesitantly. "I really just want to stay home right now and concentrate on my music…

"We're not going very far," Jake informed her. "Just back to your aunt's home town. My father in law doesn't seem to like me very much and I need an ally."

"You're not doing a very good job at convincing me to go on this trip," she laughed.

"Please Lizzie," Jake nearly begged. "If you're good, we just might go and see Pemberly while we're there."

"Really?" Lizzie asked excitedly. "Okay, I'll go. But only if we get to see Pemberly."

Jake filled Lizzie in on a few more of the details concerning the trip and they said goodbye a few minutes later, just in time for Jane to tell Lizzie that she was leaving to go help their uncle take care of his five rambunctious children. They were leaving in a week and were catching an early flight so Lizzie had to be at the airport no later than seven thirty, something Lizzie was not at all happy about. After Jane was gone and the apartment was quiet again, Lizzie grabbed her guitar and started strumming random chords as she often did when she had a lot on her mind.

She really couldn't wait to go and see Pemberly. Jack Darby had been her favorite country music star when she was little. He was the one who had inspired her to get into music. She'd mourned his death for weeks after learning at the ripe old age of seven that he had been dead for fifteen years. Ever since, she'd begged her parents every time they started planning a family vacation to take them to see Pemberly. But her mother had always insisted on some exotic island or something more suited to her tastes than to Lizzie's.

Lizzie looked out her bedroom window to the busy Nashville streets below and let her mind start to wander and think about Will Darcy again. She couldn't seem to get him out of her head most of the time. Maybe a trip away from everything and all of her memories would be just what she needed. She'd effectively ruined any chance she ever could have had with him after that episode at Rosings Park. At least, she was pretty sure she'd ruined any chance that she'd ever had with him. Lizzie sighed once again and looked over at her light blue suitcase that still contained some of her clothes from Rosings Park. Jane had been nagging her about unpacking for nearly three weeks. It looked like she wouldn't need to after all.

…………………………

"Welcome to Lambton, Lizzie," Sarah Gardner exclaimed excitedly as they drove past the city limit sign. "Isn't it just the most charming place you've ever seen?"

"It's lovely, Aunt Sarah," Lizzie assured her aunt as she looked out the window of their cab, trying to catch a glimpse of Pemberly. Unfortunately it was set some three miles from the town itself and Lizzie wouldn't catch a glimpse of it with a pair of binoculars. "So, can we go straight to Pemberly?"

Matt and Sarah laughed at their niece's enthusiasm. "I'm sorry dear," Matt apologized, "but we have to go see Sarah's parents first. I'm afraid her dad doesn't like me very much and he'll really dislike me if I keep his little girl away from him any longer."

"Could I go…"

"Lizzie, my family is dying to meet you," Sarah replied. "They'll all be really disappointed if you're not with us when we arrive."

Lizzie sighed and went back to staring out the window. The town really was charming with its red brick sidewalks and old fashioned stores lining Main Street that had probably been standing for a hundred years.

Sarah's family lived on a street just past the business section of town in a house that looked like it was probably as old as the town itself. It was a lovely old fashioned house that looked like it was as old as the town itself. It had been passed down in Sarah's family for a hundred years or more. As soon as the cab pulled up into the driveway a stream of family members flew out of the house to swarm them as they tried to climb out of the cab. Lizzie was surrounded by people and immediately pulled in to hug complete strangers. Her hands were shaken and her cheeks were kissed and finally everyone parted and Lizzie looked up to see the most intimidating man she had ever seen standing on the front porch.

"Daddy!" Sarah nearly screamed as she ran towards the man and threw herself into his arms. Instantly the man did not look even half as intimidating. He smiled with undisguised pleasure as he held his youngest daughter in his arms and made Lizzie miss her own father more than ever. Her mother had made things so unbearable for her that she'd run from home at a young age and then only rarely saw her parents or even talked to them on the phone.

Lizzie looked over at her uncle. Matt looked more afraid than Lizzie had ever seen him. "Lizzie, I'm glad you're here," he whispered. "I'm really going to need an ally here. I think Sarah's dad hates me."

"I don't think he hates you," Lizzie sighed. "He just really loves Aunt Sarah."

An hour later Lizzie was all settled into the room she was sharing with Sarah's younger sister, Sophie and she wandered out to find her aunt and uncle, who were sitting outside 

on the porch swing. "So, can we go see Pemberly now?" she asked hopefully as she stepped out onto the porch.

"Lizzie, it's probably closed by now," Sarah laughed. "It's after six o'clock."

"Seriously?" Lizzie said disappointedly.

"We'll go first thing in the morning, Lizzie," Matt promised.

"Promise?"

"Yes, I promise," Matt laughed. "Why don't you and Sophie go and do something tonight?"

"There's a movie theatre on Main Street," Sarah informed her. "They show old movies every Friday night."

"Okay, I'll go and see if Sophie wants to go," Lizzie conceded with a smile. She ran back into the house to talk to Sophie and a few minutes later they were on their way to the movies.

"So, I heard you kissed Will Darcy," Sophie giggled as they walked down the sidewalk. Lizzie had changed into a knee length floral skirt and a white tank top, the lightest clothing she owned, but the hot Alabama evening still had the loose tendrils of hair that had escaped from her hairclip sticking damply to the back of her neck.

"Yeah, well, we haven't really been on speaking terms recently," Lizzie sighed. "We got in a bit of a fight and I guess he said he was sorry, but I think we've pretty much parted ways."

"Awe," Sophie cried. "Is it true that he wrote that song the he performed at Rosings Park for you?"

"Yeah," Lizzie laughed. "That was for me."

"And then your single," Sophie went on. "That was for him?"

"Pretty much," she confessed.

"Wow!" Sophie exclaimed and pointed at a black sports car flying up the street. "Look at that car! I wonder who's driving it and what they're doing here."

Lizzie watched as the sleek car went flying past them. It looked like an Audi, way more expensive than anyone in Lambton could afford as far as Lizzie could tell. She watched as the car drove off and sighed. "I have no idea," she replied as she shrugged her lightly tanned shoulders. She changed the subject from her and her almost relationship with Will 

Darcy and had Sophie tell her about Lambton and all that she knew about Pemberly. Eventually they made their way to the movie theatre and saw one of Lizzie's favorite old movies, but Lizzie could hardly concentrate on the movie. All she could think about was Pemberly and actually being there.

The next day, Lizzie found herself approaching Pemberly for the first time. Her mouth instantly fell open with shock. She didn't know what she had really expected, but the pictures just had not done the place justice. Pemberly was everything that she had ever dreamed that it would be and more. The impressive southern mansion was four stories with at least seven different chimneys that Lizzie could count at first glance, as sure sign at the mansion's authenticity. The large Roman style pillars almost sparkled in the bright sunlight. The house was nearly surrounded by large trees that had to be at least a hundred years old. Lizzie was so excited, she felt like a child on their first trip to Disney World.

"Is this place even open to the public?" Lizzie asked her uncle curiously. "I thought that the family still owned it."

"The new owner just recently made it open to the public, but only when he and his sister aren't there," Jake explained as he slowed the car to a halt. "We've gotten here just in the nick of time too. The owner is supposed to return tomorrow from what I've heard."

Lizzie slipped out of the car and walked around to the trunk. She knocked on it softly signaling for the cab driver to open it for her and then pulled out her guitar. Jake had thought that the hallowed grounds of Pemberly might give Lizzie some inspiration and suggested that she bring it with her. She pulled the strap of the case over her head and wandered away from the car towards the gardens. "Lizzie, we're supposed to go on a tour," her aunt called as she watched Lizzie wander away.

"I don't think they'll mind if I just sit in the garden," Lizzie called back as she took off in that direction.

The garden was even more amazing in person than all of the pictures she had seen on line. She'd been almost obsessed with Pemberly ever since her father had taught her about it. She'd spent hours laying on her bedroom floor listening to Jack Darby's old records. She'd watched every documentary on Jack Darby that existed. She'd watched every concert that had been on video. In one of the documentaries he'd talked about how he got his best inspiration from his garden and ever since she'd heard that, Lizzie had been dying to see it. Actually being there was almost enough to blow her mind.

She quickly unzipped her guitar case and grabbed her guitar. She strummed a few chords, reached up to tune her guitar and then strummed them again. "There's me, wonderin' what I should do…" she sang softly to herself. She frowned a little and pulled a notebook out of another pocket of her guitar case. She pulled the pen off the notebook and scribbled down the phrase on the first blank page she came to. She looked at the words that she had just written and frowned. They just didn't seem quite right. She strummed a few more chords and hummed along.

"That sounds pretty good," Will commented off handedly as Lizzie looked up to see him standing there staring at her. "I like the tune."

Lizzie looked up at hum and her mouth gapped open. Will Darcy was standing there smiling down at her. With the sun streaming out from behind him he looked like some sort of Greek god. Her breath caught in her throat and it felt like she couldn't breathe, let alone speak. She sat there staring at him stupidly, willing something to come out of her mouth and nothing did. She finally realized that she was staring at him and looked down at her shoes.

Suddenly Lizzie and Will heard the click of a camera. "Lizzie, who is this?" her aunt called as she lowered the camera from her face.

"What are you doing here?" Lizzie asked finally. "Are you visiting too?"

"No, actually," Will smiled. "This is my home."

"What?!" Lizzie exclaimed incredulously, almost dropping her guitar. "But they said that the house wasn't open to the public when the family was there. If we'd known we never would have…I never would have…"

"Lizzie, it's alright," Will grinned. "Now why don't you introduce me to this lovely lady?"

"Will, this is my aunt, Sarah Gardiner" Lizzie stammered. "Aunt Sarah, this is Will Darcy."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Will said charmingly.

"Sarah, where are you?" Jake called as he walked in their direction.

"Over here, Jake," she replied.

"I was wondering where you'd gotten too…" Jake trailed off. "Oh, Mr. Darcy, it's a pleasure to see you again."

"Please," Will responded as he started leading them back in the direction of the house. "Call me Will. Mr. Darcy sound like something out of some Regency novel."

Everyone but Lizzie laughed as they reached the gravel driveway. She stared at Will with a little confused frown. He was so different from the dark and moody man she'd met all those months ago. The man chatting with her aunt and uncle was smiling and pleasant. He was the perfect host telling them a bunch of interesting facts about the house and Jack Darby.

"Wait," Lizzie said suddenly as they reached the front door. "This house belongs to Jack Darby's nephew. Does that mean that you…"

"His real name was Jerome Darcy," Will explained. "He decided that Jack was a cooler name than Jerome and my father wasn't crazy about his becoming a musician. He changed his last name to Darby in order to ensure the family's privacy. He was the older brother so he inherited Pemberly when my grandfather died and then left it to my father when he died, who in turn left it to me."

"I can't believe you own Pemberly," Lizzie said incredulously. "I mean, seriously. I've dreamed about this house since I knew what it was and you own it!"

"Sometimes I can't believe it either," Will grinned. "Have ya'll had a tour of the house yet?"

"We have," Jake replied. "But Lizzie felt the need to immediately go to the gardens. Apparently they hold some magic power for Lizzie or something."

"You should see the house," Will told her. "I bet you would love the balcony room where Uncle Jack wrote his third album."

"I didn't know that he wrote that entire album himself," Lizzie replied incredulously. "What are we waiting for? Let's go…"

"Lizzie," Sarah interjected gently. "My parents are expecting us back at the house for dinner in an hour. We really need to get going."

"But I didn't even get to see…"

"It's not like we're not going to be here for three weeks," her uncle replied.

"But…"

"What if you two went ahead and went back and I take Lizzie home later?" Will suggested. "That way you can see the rest of the house and you two can go back for dinner."

"I guess that would be alright," Sarah said slowly.

"It's settled then," Jake decided and started ushering Sarah towards their rental car. He'd watched Lizzie and Will together back in Nashville and was pretty sure that his young niece had met her match. They reminded him a lot of himself and Sarah when they first met. It had taken him nearly a year to get her to agree to go out with him. He really hoped that it didn't take Lizzie and Will quite that long.

………………………………………..

"You can't tell me that you don't like Brooks and Dunn!" Lizzie all but screamed later as she and Will sat on the floor going through his CD collection. Lizzie had to admit that it was very impressive. He had a dark oak cabinet completely filled with CDs and then another filled with records. All of them were alphabetized and had to have been coded in at least seven different ways. Lizzie let Will take them out and put them back. She didn't want to be responsible for singlehandedly causing his organization system to crash.

"I've just never really cared for them," Will shrugged. "They have a couple of good songs, but they've never been one of my favorites."

"I can't believe you," Lizzie sighed in exasperation as she leaned back against the recliner that was behind her. "They are like country music legends and you don't like them. I don't understand you!"

"Well, you don't like Sawyer Brown," he replied with a grin. "They're the greatest thing that ever happened to country music and you don't like them."

"Sawyer Brown has not had near the success Brooks and Dunn has had," she retorted. "And all of their songs are so stereotypical!"

"We are not going to get anywhere arguing," Will laughed. "Why don't we just agree to disagree on this one?"

"I guess we could do that," Lizzie grumbled. "But only if you agree to go out and buy a Brooks and Dunn CD and then we talk about this again."

"Fine, but you have to get a Sawyer Brown CD," Will agreed.

"I already have all of their CDs," Lizzie replied smugly and tossed her hair over her shoulder. "I have every country music CD I've ever been able to get my hands on since I was five years old."

Will looked at Lizzie, sitting on a floor pillow all bundled up in an old afghan he was pretty sure his grandmother had knitted. She looked totally adorable and it was all he could do not to just lean over and kiss her softly on the mouth. But she was just starting to get comfortable around him again and he couldn't do anything to jeopardize that.

"Mr. Darcy, dinner is ready," one of the servants said as they poked their head into the room.

"We'll be there in a minute," he replied and rose to his feet and then offered Lizzie a hand to help her up as well. Lizzie carefully folded the afghan and put it back on the couch. Will walked up behind her and then took her hand in his. Lizzie looked down at their intertwined fingers and then up at Will. He was smiling down at her and Lizzie 

couldn't help but smile back at him. Once again Lizzie found herself wishing that he would kiss her and couldn't help but feel a little disappointed when he didn't.

"So what are we having?" she asked as they walked towards to dining room.

"In all honesty, I have no idea," Will laughed. "But I'm sure Mrs. Reynolds has made something wonderful for us."

A few hours later Will drove Lizzie back to Sarah's family's house in the same black sports car she and Sophie had seen the night before. Lizzie sat there awkwardly in the car staring out the passenger window, unsure of what to say. "I had a really great time tonight," she said finally as the car pulled into the driveway.

"I'm glad," Will replied with a gentle smile as he climbed out and then walked around to open her door for her. Lizzie reached down and fumbled with the seat belt buckle so that she could get out. After opening the door for her, Will reached down and took her hand to help her out. Lizzie expected him to drop it and then let her walk up to the door on her own, but instead he laced his fingers through hers and walked her up to the front door. "Oh," he said suddenly as they stood there under the soft glow of the porch light. "I'd like it if you would meet my sister, Gina, she's coming into town tomorrow."

"I'd love to meet her," Lizzie assured him as she caught the blinds rustling out of the corner of her eye. "I think we have an audience. It's probably Aunt Sarah's younger sister, Sophie. She thinks it's so cool that she's sharing a room with a real celebrity."

Will laughed and squeezed her hand. "Well," he sighed. "I guess I better let you get inside. Come over tomorrow for lunch?"

"I'll be there," she promised and then lightly rose up onto her tiptoes to kiss his cheek. Lizzie threw him one last smile and then slipped through the front door, finding Sophie bouncing up and down on the love seat in anticipation.

"What happened to you and Will Darcy not exactly speaking?" Sophie asked with raised eyebrows and a huge grin on her face.

"He owns Pemberly," Lizzie replied cryptically and then almost flounced from the room as she retreated to Sophie's bedroom.

"Oh, Lizzie," Sarah called as she walked past Sarah and Matt's open door. "I got my pictures from Pemberly developed this afternoon. Do you want to see them?"

"Sure," Lizzie smiled as she stepped into the room and took the bright yellow package from her aunt's hand. She walked back to Sophie's cheerful room and sank down onto her folding bed to flip through the pictures. There were some from the inside of the house of rooms that Lizzie hadn't seen while she had been there. Some were of rooms that she'd really wished that she'd gotten to see, but she was going back the next day and she 

would just make Will show them to her then. She paused when she came to the picture her aunt had taken when she and Will first met again in the garden. Will's smile was breathtaking. It was the kind of smile every girl dreamed that some guy would flash in their direction.

Suddenly Lizzie was hit with a rush of inspiration. She leaned over the edge of the bed and grabbed her guitar and notebook. Lizzie slowly started strumming the same chords from earlier and then looked at the lyrics she'd written earlier. She crossed the few lines she had written and then looked at the picture resting by her knee on the bed. "There's me lookin' down at my shoes," she sang softly. "The one smiling like the sun, that's you…"


	10. Pemberly Part 2

A/N: So, you all have to believe how terribly sorry I am that this chapter has taken me so long to write. I've been working really hard on some original stuff for the last year or so, but my mind never really abandoned this story. It's always been there wanting to be finished. So, here I am, working on finishing it. I think I'll have it done by the end of the month. Oh, and I still don't own Pride and Prejudice, the song "There's Us" or any of the brand name items mentioned in this story, or this chapter specifically anyway. I'm probably going to go back through and rewrite a bunch of the chapters too. So, here's to a returned muse!

Lizzie was up the next morning almost before dawn. Sophie was still fast asleep and so she quietly slipped her bath robe over her shoulders. She grabbed her guitar out of its case, flipping up the clasps as softly as possible, and then softly slipped out of the room. Someone had already been up and made coffee and so she poured herself a cup in a faded blue mug and then slipped out onto the front porch to sit in the swing and mull over what she had written the night before.

As she sat there and watched the sun rise she absently strummed chords on her guitar. Every now and then she struck a chord progression that she particularly liked and scribbled it down on the notebook next to her. The front porch faced east, giving her a magnificent view of the sun rising over the town. She could almost imagine that she could see the top of Pemberly from where she sat. The sun rise from her spot on the front porch was probably one of the most beautiful sights that she'd ever seen. But in spite of her beautiful surroundings and the happiness in her heart, her song just wasn't reflecting that.

For some reason the song sounded sad and she didn't understand why. Everything just seemed too wonderful beyond words and yet the song she was writing was coming out like something bad was about to happen. She just couldn't come up with a chorus that she liked. Lizzie strummed the opening chords to the song on her guitar and then softly sang and played the first verse. She tried to move on to the chorus but something just didn't sound right. She kept strumming and trying out different chords but couldn't be content with what she had written.

Suddenly the front door opened and Sarah stepped out onto the porch already showered and fully dressed. "Lizzie?" she questioned with the frown. "Aren't you going to get ready? You're leaving for Pemberly in half an hour."

"What?" Lizzie nearly screamed as she bolted up from her spot on the bench and nearly threw her guitar across the porch. She tossed her aunt her guitar, an unspoken request for her aunt to put it back in its case, and then flew into the house and down the hall to Sophie's room. She ran to her suitcase and started throwing her clothes around in her haste to find something to wear. She finally settled on her favorite floral skirt and a pale yellow tank top then ran down the hall again to the bathroom.

In spite of the fact that she'd only had half the usual amount of time she took to get ready, Lizzie was standing on the porch ready to go with three minutes to spare when a glossy black car pulled up in front of the house and Will Darcy got out.

"You're on time, I'm shocked," Will joked as Lizzie made her way down the porch steps.

"I can be on time when I want to be," Lizzie replied. "Is it okay if I bring my guitar? I'd really like to do some song writing at Pemberly…"

"That's more than fine," he assured her and opened the back passenger door so that she could safely stow her instrument case there. He knew that he never let his guitar ride around in an empty trunk and figured she wouldn't either.

"So, am I just meeting your sister today?"

"Charlie's at Pemberly too, with Caroline," Will informed her as he climbed in the driver's side and restarted the car. "I hope that's okay…"

"I'd love to see Charlie again," Lizzie assured him as she stared out the window at the lovely day outside. "He was a lot of fun when we were stuck at that hotel over Christmas. Caroline…"

"I'd prefer that she didn't follow Charlie everywhere," Will interjected as he stole a glance at Lizzie. He wouldn't have believed that she'd had to rush to get ready. She was as beautiful as ever in his eyes. He would have thought her beautiful if she had just rolled out of bed. In fact, he had found her beautiful when he'd seen her Christmas morning when Charlie woke them both up.

Lizzie stared out the window and nervously fingered the hem of her skirt. Will glanced over and noted her nervous gesture. Will smiled slightly and then took her hand in his. Lizzie looked down startled as he twined his fingers through hers, but didn't pull away when she saw the smile on his face. Will Darcy, she thought, needed to smile more. He was gorgeous when he was all dark and broody, but he was breathtaking when he smiled. They sat there with her hand in his until they reached Pemberly and a teenage girl came running down the front steps to meet them.

"That's Gina," Will informed her quietly as Lizzie grabbed her guitar case. "She's been dying to meet you. She's a huge fan of your band."

Gina skidded to a stop in front of them in her scuffed sneakers and opened her mouth to say something, but suddenly looked really shy. Will opened his arm to his sister and she slid to his side. It made Lizzie smile to see how close the two of them were. The way a guy treated his sister was a very good indication of how a guy would treat his girlfriend, not that Lizzie's mind was going there. She wasn't exactly sure what she and Will Darcy were, but they were definitely not at that stage yet.

"Gina, this is Lizzie," Will said with a smile. "Lizzie, this is my little sister, Gina."

"It's nice to meet you," Lizzie smiled as she held out her free hand to Gina. The younger girl took it shyly and burrowed a little closer to her brother. "Will tells me that you're a musician too."

"I'm not as good as you are," Gina replied shyly. "Will just raves about you."

"But you play the piano," Lizzie laughed. "I can't play the simplest song on the piano and Will just raves about your abilities."

"Come on you two," Will laughed. "We do have other guests waiting."

"Caroline won't leave me alone, Will," Gina whispered loudly into her brother's ear. "I came running out to escape her."

"And here I thought you were just that excited to meet the famous Lizzie Bennet that you couldn't stop raving about," he teased as they started making their way back into the house.

"I was very excited about meeting you, Lizzie," Gina said with a small smile. "Willie's been raving about you for weeks."

"Gina!"

"But you have," she replied impishly. "It's always 'Lizzie this' or 'Lizzie that.' He's been driving Richard and I nuts. I thought Caroline was going to go into cardiac arrest the other night when Will started talking about you at dinner."

"Charlie brought it up."

"Charlie brought the band up," Gina amended as they walked through the front door. "He mentioned how ya'll are supposed to have another single coming out."

"That's actually what I'm supposed to be working on right now," Lizzie laughed. "I'm here on sabbatical trying to get some inspiration."

"And have you found anything to inspire you?"

"Other than being in Jack Darby's house?" she grinned. "This is completely surreal to me. I've dreamed of this place since I was six years old. I think I wore black every day for nearly three months every day when I found out he'd died."

"Uncle Jack died before we were born…" Gina frowned questioningly.

"No one informed me of that when I first discovered his records," Lizzie replied with a shrug. "But he was the one who inspired me. He made me want to be a musician. All I asked for for Christmas and my birthday for years was a guitar and then my dad finally cracked one year for my birthday. I taught myself to play for the most part and wrote my first song when I was sixteen."

"Wow," Gina said as they walked into the room Charlie and Caroline were sitting in. "So why did you choose country music? Uncle Jack was more rock and roll."

"Well, Jack Darby was my first musical inspiration," Lizzie began. "But my mom loves Martina McBride and she always seemed to be playing in our house when I first started to play the guitar. The first song I ever sang at a talent show was 'Concrete Angel.' I wanted to be just like her."

"That is most fascinating, Eliza," Caroline interjected, causing Lizzie to start a bit violently. She had barely realized then been walking and hadn't realized at all that they'd entered a room. It was the same room she'd been in with Will the night before as they'd been talking about their favorite bands. The sight of that entire wall of records, tapes, and CDs still took her breath away. She'd thought she'd had a lot of music before seeing it. "So, you just copy other artists?"

Lizzie recoiled as though someone had slapped her. "No," she said firmly. "I've tried to give myself and my band our own distinct sound and style. We don't copy anyone. I've never recorded a cover for one of my CDs. In fact, I write most of the music we sing myself."

"Lizzie's quite the talented song writer," Will chimed in and wrapped an arm around Lizzie's shoulders, feeling them shake with anger. "Don't let her get to you," he whispered into her ear.

"I've never…" she hissed back.

"I know," he replied and let his hand caress her hair once. "She doesn't know what she's talking about."

"Well, I found your story quite fascinating, Lizzie," Charlie called from his place on the black leather sofa. "I always think it's interesting to hear about artists' musical influences."

"It's your job to interested in that crap, Charlie," Caroline retorted.

"Will, why don't you show Lizzie a little more of the house?" Gina suggested, a bit of her initial timidity returning because of the high level of tension in the room.

"I know one room that you'll love," Will sighed heavily as he turned to face Elizabeth. "Will you let me show it to you?"

"Sure…"

"Why don't we all go?" Caroline called out as she stood up from the arm chair she'd been sitting in.

"Actually, Caroline," Gina began painfully. "I bought a dress the other day that I'm not quite sure about. I'd really love it if you would give me your opinion. Will you come up to my room with me and take a look? Will you be alright by yourself Charlie?"

"Go on!" Charlie urged with his usual exuberance. "I'll find something on the TV to watch while you all go off on your adventures."

Caroline looked as though she was going to protest, but Gina dragged her away from the room before she got the chance. Charlie produced a remote and was quickly entranced by the glories of ESPN.

"Shall we?" Will asked with a smile as he held out his arm to Elizabeth.

"We shall," she replied with a giggle and slung the shoulder strap of her guitar case around her before wrapping her arm around his.

"I could carry that for you," he suggested as they made their way out of the room and towards the marble staircase that dominated the front hall.

"I appreciate the offer," Lizzie smiled. "But I'd much prefer to do it myself. You know musicians and their favorite instruments…"

Will nodded understandingly and they made their way up to the fourth and top floor of the house. He gave her some of the details of the rooms on the other three floors as they made their ascent, but wouldn't let her veer off to inspect any of the rooms. "Just be patient," he would say and gently pull her back towards him. "This is worth the wait."

"But I always wanted to see…"

"Later."

Lizzie pouted a little, but perked up when they finally made their way onto the landing of the fourth floor.

"This room was supposed to be a ball room," Will informed her as they stopped in front of an ornately carved door. "But Uncle Jack didn't really see the need for a ball room." He pushed the door open and Lizzie felt her jaw drop open. Not because of the furnishings in the room, because the room was completely empty save one folding chair near the far wall, but instead because of the marvelous view that you could see because the far wall was a solid piece of glass.

"The architect who Uncle Jack hired to restore Pemberly hated the idea of making this wall solid glass," Will informed her. "He insisted that it couldn't be done. But Uncle Jack told him that he wasn't paying him to tell him what he couldn't do. He was being paid to do what Uncle Jack wanted him to do. So, here we are. Uncle Jack wrote most of his songs in that folding chair."

"Will…" Lizzie trailed off breathlessly. "I can't believe this! I can't believe I'm actually standing here! In this room! Where Jack Darby did most of his song writing! This is just incredible! And the view! I think I can see Aunt Sarah's family's house from here! This has to be the most incredible thing in the world!"

"I'm glad you like it."

"Like it?" she replied incredulously. "I love it!"

"So, do you feel inspired?"

"How could you not?"

"Would you like me to leave you alone for awhile?" he asked. "I always come in here whenever I'm having trouble writing a song."

"Could I?" Lizzie whispered. "Could I really?" When Will nodded his head, Lizzie flew across the room and flung her arms around his neck. She squeezed him as tightly as he could and when she pulled back, his cheeks were flaming red.

"I'll leave you to it then," he said quietly as he made his way back out of the room. Lizzie looked around the room incredulously for a few more minutes and then took a seat on the floor near the glass wall. She thought about sitting in the chair, but couldn't bring herself to do it. There was no way she could sit in Jack Darby's chair. The greatness of it would leave mind in a puddle of mush and she needed that to work out this song. She unzipped her guitar case and placed the guitar on her lap. She strummed a few chords to make sure that it was still perfectly in tune and then started to play the song she'd been working on that morning.

"There's me, looking down at my shoes," she sang softly. "The one smiling like the sun, that's you. What were you thinking? What was the song inside your head?"

.............................

By the time Will returned to the living room, Gina and Caroline were back as well. "I was watching that, Caroline!" Charlie snapped irritably as his sister grabbed the remote from the coffee table to changed the channel to the entertainment network.

"You've already seen that football game four times, Charlie," she snapped back. "Oh! I hate that dress! Some people have no sense of fashion!"

Gina held back a snort as she looked over Caroline's attire. Once again, she was clad in nothing bur orange. Whoever had told her that orange was her best color had been lying to her.

"It's the Gators!"Charlie exclaimed. "You can't watch them play enough!"

"So, where's Eliza?" Caroline inquired snidely. "Off drooling over some of your uncle's old garbage?"

"No," Will replied coldly as he took a seat next to Charlie on the couch. "She's up in another room working on a song she's been writing. Pemberly inspires her."

"I must say, that skirt of hers was soooo last season," she said snidely. "I wouldn't be caught dead in that ratty old thing."

"I thought Lizzie looked quite nice," Gina interjected when she looked over and saw how tightly the skin was stretched over Will's knunckles ad his hand curled into a fist. "Yellow is quite a pretty color on her. I think it has something to do with her hair."

"But a tank top!" Caroline exclaimed. "I swear, I don't know how men find her attractive. She has absolutely no fashion sense. Don't you think, William? I remember you once said something about that stupid cowboy hat she always wears on stage."

"I never said anything about her hat, Caroline," Will inwardly seethed. "And I don't find Elizabeth to be the least bit unattractive. I think she's probably the most beautiful woma I know. Not to mention the fact that she's beautiful inside as well, and doesn't feel the need to belittle others to make herself seem more important."

"Well..." Caroline began and then suddenly stood up. She threw the remote back at Charlie and stormed out of the room without another word.

Charlie immedately punched in the number for his desired channel and stood up and cheered. "Alright! Touch down! Hurricanes can't stop Superman!"

.....................................

Hours past completely unnoticed by Lizzie and she jumped violently when someone knocked on the door.

"Lizzie, it's time for lunch," Gina called softly into the room. "Are you hungry?"

"Famished," Lizzie replied as placed her guitar back in its open case and zipped it up. She rose to her feet and stretched her stiff muscles before leaning back down to pick the case up and sling the strap around her torso. "What's for lunch?"

"One of Mrs. Reynolds' specialties," Gina replied as they made their way out of the room.

"I must look like a mess," Lizzie laughed as she looked down at her wrinkled skirt. "I should have known better than to sit like that in my skirt."

"You look fine," Gina assured her. "I don't think anyone will care how wrinkled your skirt is."

Lunch passed by quickly and although Will and Gina begged her to stay a while longer, Lizzie begged off. "I forgot my cell phone and my aunt and uncle have no way to get a hold of me," she explained. "I should probably get back and touch base with them. Besides, Uncle Jake is probably ready to kill me for leaving him alone for so long."

"You'll come back with your aunt and uncle for dinner though, right?" Gina pleaded hopefully as Lizzie and Will made their way towards the front door.

"I'll ask," Lizzie assured the younger girl. "I'll send Will back with a yes or no answer." She hugged Gina goodbye and then they made their way out the door.

"Gina likes you a lot," Will said as they made their way to the waiting car.

"I really like her too," Lizzie replied with a smile. "She's a sweet girl. And she's obviously very fond of you."

"Our parents died when she was seven," Will replied. "I've practically been her father for the last ten years. We're really close."

"That's really great that you became her guardian," she said thoughtfully. "Most people would just pass their younger siblings on to a relative."

"Well, the only relative that could have taken her in at that point would have been Aunt Catherine," he explained. "And you can see why I couldn't let that happen…"

Lizzie shuddered at the memory of Catherine de Bourgh and nodded her head in agreement. "Yes," she laughed softly. "I can see exactly why you wouldn't let that happen."

"So, have any creative bursts?"

"Sort of," Lizzie sighed. "I got the music part of the song written. But I'm kind of lost on the lyrics. I really like what I have, but I'm not sure exactly where I'm going with it. It just doesn't sound as happy as I want it to for some reason."

"Can I hear what you've got?"

"My guitar's on the back seat."

"Just sing it," he instructed as he reached over and turned off the radio.

"This is embarrassing…"

"Please?"

Lizzie sighed heavily and began to sing:

_There's me, looking down at my shoes_

_The one smiling like the sun, that's you_

_What were you thinking?_

_What was the song inside your head?_

_There's us, going on about a band_

_Working out how we play our hand_

_I lay there dreaming_

_Later, all alone in my bed…_

"That's all I've got so far," she shrugged. "I need a bridge and a chorus, and another verse or two."

"I like it," he nodded slowly as he pulled into the driveway. "I really like it. I can't wait to hear the rest of it."

"Well, don't get any ideas, mister," Lizzie laughed. "You can hear the rest of it with the rest of the world when I finally release it as a single."

Will laughed as well and then sighed as she unbuckled her seatbelt and got out of the car. "Oh," he said as she leaned into the back seat to grab her guitar. "Don't forget to ask your aunt and uncle about dinner."

"I'll do that right now," she assured him as she grabbed her guitar case and pulled it out. "Their rental car is here, so they should be inside."

Will waited anxiously as Lizzie ran into the house. He watched the minutes tick by slowly. It felt like an eternity, but in reality was only about three minutes before Lizzie came bounding out of the house with a happy smile on her face. "We'll see you tonight at seven," she informed him after she'd made her way over to the driver's side of the car and he'd rolled down the window. "Aunt Sarah's really excited."

"Gina and I will be looking forward to it," he replied.

There was an awkward silence for a moment before Lizzie leaned in impulsively and softly pressed her lips to his cheek. "See you tonight," she called over her shoulder as she made her way back towards the house.

"Lizzie, wait!"

Lizzie turned around to watch him get out of the car and make his way towards her. He stopped when they were only inches apart and pressed his lips against hers in a brief kiss. She froze for a minute, but when he felt her start to kiss him back, it was pure heaven. He reluctantly broke the kiss and got back into his car "I'll be here to pick you all up at seven," he called through the still open window.

"T-t-that's really not necessary," Lizzie stammered breathlessly. "We've got the rental car…"

"I insist," he replied and buckled his seat belt before pulling out of the drive way. He looked at the clock on the radio. It was 3:30. In three and a half hours Lizzie would be on her way back to his house and he wasn't going to let her leave it again without her knowing that he was still in love with her, maybe now more than ever. He knew those would be the longest three and a half hours of his life.

…………..

Lizzie's mind was reeling from the kiss and she completely forgot to look at her phone when she got back into the house. She got embroiled in a rather epic game of Go Fish with Sophie's two nieces and youngest nephew and it completely slipped her mind. It wasn't until she came back from the bathroom after showering to get ready to go back to Pemberly that Sophie finally said something to her about it.

"I meant to mention it when you got back, but it totally slipped my mind," Sophie began as she flipped through the pages of a fashion magazine. "Your phone's totally been ringing off the hook all day."

"OH!" Lizzie exclaimed as she scrambled across the room to where she'd left her purse. She pulled out her Blackberry and groaned. She had fifteen missed calls. The one day she didn't have her phone on her had to be the day when everyone tried to call her. But as she looked back over the call history, she saw that they'd all been from Jane. After walking out onto the porch to get some privacy, she pressed in the speed dial for Jane's number and then waited for her sister to pick up.

"Lizzie!" Jane exclaimed breathlessly as she answered the phone. "Thank God you finally answered! You have to come home right away!"

"What?" Lizzie asked with a puzzled frown. "Why?"

"It's Lydia," her sister explained. "She's gone missing! She never made it to her interview last night and she's not in her hotel room either. The maid said that no one has slept in the bed for the last three nights!"

"Oh my God!" Lizzie cried. "How did this happen?"

"We don't know!" Jane replied. "The limo driver dropped her off at her hotel and she checked in, but then she just vanished! No one has any idea where she went!"

"Jane!" Lizzie heard Kitty scream in the background. "Lydia just sent me a message on Facebook!"

"Hold on a minute Kitty and let me put Lizzie on speakerphone so that she can hear too," Jane instructed as calmly as possible. "Okay, go ahead."

"Kitty, you'll never guess what I'm up to," Kitty read breathlessly.

_I'm having the best time ever. Ya'll will be soooooo jealous! Jack and I are running away together! I think we're going to Mexico! Lizzie would never let us go on vacation there! Jack met me in New York and now we're running off together! I'm not sure where exactly in Mexico, but Jack says that he as lots of friends there! I'll let you know more later_

"Jack?" Lizzie asked quietly. "Jack who?"

"Jack Wickham," Kitty replied softly. "Lydia ran into him one day not long after you left, Lizzie. I think they've been seeing each other."

"Oh no," Lizzie said and rested her head in her hands. "I'll go talk to Uncle Jake and Aunt Sarah. I'll let them know that we have to leave right away. I'll call you when I know what time my plane will land."

Lizzie said goodbye to her sisters and let her head sink down into her hands. Poor, stupid Lydia… She felt the tears brimming up in her eyes start to course down her cheeks. How could this have happened? How could Lydia have done this? This was going to ruin their reputation as a band… Wickham was not well liked among the various people involved in the country music industry. Oh God… The joint bank account… Lydia had access to it. They'd just gotten their last check from their record sales… Oh God…

"Lizzie," she heard a masculine voice call. She looked up to see Will getting out of his car and quickly making his way towards her. "Lizzie, sweetheart, what's wrong?"

"Lydia," she managed to choke out as the sobs built up in her chest. "She's run off with… Wickham!" As she choked out the name, the sobs escaped her. She sat there on the somewhat rickety porch swing sobbing and felt Will sit down beside her. He tentatively wrapped his arms around her and she burrowed her way in closer to him, sobbing against his broad chest. She cried for Lydia, for the way the band was going to suffer because of her sister's thoughtless actions, and for herself. Because she knew that even though Will was holding her at the moment, once she'd explained the whole story, he probably wouldn't want anything to do with her ever again.


End file.
